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Why is Pakistan, where Punjabi literature was born, shunning the language?

The sweet words of Farid, the sacred language of Nanak, Shah Hussain’s love and the eternal poetry of Bulleh Shah have today been called a “foul language” in their home - Haroon Khalid Beaconhouse School

Islamabad As the world celebrated Global Dignity Day on October 12 – which stresses on the right of each individual to live a life with dignity – so did students of the Beaconhouse School System, the largest private school network in Pakistan. Its social media pages were filled with pictures of celebrations at its several hundred branches in the country as well as UK, Malaysia, UAE, The Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh and

Oman. Just a couple of days later, however, the school was in the midst of a controversy where it displayed everything but dignity.

The incident began with a circular to students’ parents by a branch of the school located in the city of Sahiwal in Pakistan’s Punjab, about 170 kilometres from Lahore. Titled “School Discipline Policy”, the circular laid down the rules and regulations of the school. One of these was that foul language was not

Gurudwara Nankana Sahib

allowed within its premises – a fairly standard rule for an educational institution. However, it went on to elaborate that what constituted foul language was: “Taunts, abuses, Punjabi and hate speech.”

The notice went viral on social media – perhaps put up there by a parent who highlighted the choice use of words by a school considered elite. Punjabi literary organisations and members of the civil society were up in arms against

Beaconhouse, and on October 20, dozens of activists gathered outside the school chain’s head office in Lahore to protest against its derision of the Punjabi language and culture.

The rise to fame Ironically, Beaconhouse’s head office is located on Guru Mangat Road – named thus after a historical village (that has now been absorbed by the ever-growing monster that is Lahore) which draws its fame from Continued on Page 4

Eight SIMI men killed in encounter, but video clips raise doubts Bhopal Eight suspected members of a radical Islamist group were killed by the police in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, hours after they allegedly escaped from a highsecurity jail by slitting the throat of a prison guard and scaling the walls with knotted bedsheets.

The police said the eight members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were cornered on the outskirts of the state capital and shot dead when they fired on securitymen.

A video clip purportedly showing policeman shooting at an apparently injured fugitive lying on a flat-topped rock raised doubts about the authenticity of the encounter, prompting rights groups and opposition parties to seek a probe. Another purported clip of the encounter surfaced later, showing the SIMI fugitives waving at the policemen from a rocky outcrop amid a scrub forest lowland. After a break, the video resumes

to show one of the policemen firing a round from his rifle at the group on the rock.

The police said the veracity of the clips was yet to be ascertained. “We acted on intelligence and located the inmates.

They fired on us and all eight were killed

in crossfire,” Yogesh Chaudhury, the Bhopal inspector general of police, told reporters, adding that three cops suffered pellet injuries. He said four country-made guns and three sharp weapons were found on the SIMI men. Sanjeev Shami, inspector general of the anti-terror squad

who led the operation, however, said the fugitives were unarmed and no cop was injured in the encounter.

Three of those killed had escaped earlier from a jail in MP’s Khandwa district but were re-arrested. The police said all eight were accused in several terror cases including the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, and explosions in Karimnagar, Pune and Chennai. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described the lapses that led to the jailbreak as “criminal negligence” and said the incident will be probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The government also suspended five jail department officials.

Padam Singh Meena, convenor of a village defence group in Eithkhedi village, told HT that farmers came across the eight “unidentified people” at around 7.30 am. The village is around 12 km from the jail. By that time, police said, the fleeing prisoners had shaved and also discarded Continued on Page 5

Issue - 691 (2)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Picasso’s widow hid artworks from his son, court hears AIX-EN-PROVENCE A retired electrician who kept nearly 300 Pablo Picasso artworks in his garage for almost 40 years told a French appeal court Monday that the artist’s widow may have wanted to keep the works hidden from his son Claude.

Pierre Le Guennec, convicted last year along with his wife of possessing stolen goods, said that after Picasso died in April 1973, his widow had asked him to store between 15 and 17 garbage bags containing the artworks.

“Mrs Jacqueline Picasso had problems with Claude Picasso,” the 77-year-old defendant told the court in the southern city of Aixen-Provence.

Le Guennec said that some time later Jacqueline Picasso retrieved the bags but gave him one of them.

The collection, whose value has not been assessed, includes drawings of women and horses, nine rare Cubist collages from the time Picasso was working with fellow French artist Georges

Braque and a work from his “blue period”.

Other more intimate works include portraits of Picasso’s mistress Fernande, drawings of his first wife Olga and a drawing of a horse for his children.

The unsigned works, which had not been inventoried, were created between 1900 and 1932.

The authorities seized the works after Le Guennec tried to get them authenticated in 2010 and handed them over to Picasso’s son Claude Ruiz-Picasso, who represents the artist’s six heirs.

Le Guennec had previously testified that he and his wife Danielle received the works in 1971 or 1972 when the Spanish master was still alive.

Their lawyer Eric Dupont Moretti said he had learned this version of events only a few days ago.

Le Guennec said he did not reveal the truth before for “fear of being accused along with

madame of having stolen these bags”.

The couple were initially given two-year suspended prison terms for possessing stolen goods by

a court in March 2015.

Their appeal is set to last one day, with the defendants facing maximum jail time of five years and a fine of 375,000 euros ($410,000) - or half the value of the pieces, whichever figure is greater - if the conviction is upheld. Pierre Le Guennec had testified previously that the art legend and his wife gave him the artworks when he was working

on the last property they lived in before Picasso died.

Le Guennec, who worked for Picasso between 1970 and 1973, said Jacqueline gave him the 271 works as a gift recognising the couple’s devotion.

He described the 180 single pieces and a notebook containing 91 drawings as “drawings, sketches, (and) crumpled paper”.

Uninterested in the haul, Le Guennec said he put the collection in his garage and discovered it again in 2009.

He went to Paris the following year to get the works authenticated by Claude RuizPicasso, and the artist’s heirs promptly filed a complaint against him. Claude and his sister Paloma were the offspring of Picasso’s relationship with Francoise Gilot, his companion from 1944 to 1953.

The investigation did not formally identify the thief or thieves.

“We’re honest people,” Le

Guennec said after the initial verdict.

Much of the trial centred on why none of the works was signed, with several witnesses saying the artist would sign everything partly to ensure against theft.

According to Gerard Sassier, the son of Picasso’s long-time cleaning woman, the artist once said after an attempted theft: “Anyway, nothing can be stolen as nothing is signed.”

The defence argued it would have been extremely difficult to steal from Picasso as he had “an amazing memory” and his property was protected like a “fortress”.

One of the few plaintiffs to have known Le Guennec when he was employed by the Picasso family, the artist’s grand-daughter Catherine Hutin-Blay, acknowledged during the trial that the electrician did have a special relationship with the artist.

Prosecutor Laurent Robert said Le Guennec was a pawn who was manipulated by unscrupulous art dealers trying to obtain works initially stolen by Picasso’s former chauffeur.

BEIJING Video footage of a man who wrestled with a giant panda bear after breaking into a zoo enclosure in southern China went viral over the weekend.

The video, taken last Thursday, showed the man sneaking up to Meiling, a 120-kg (265-pound) male panda, and touching the sleeping bear on the head.

The 12-year-old panda woke up and grabbed the man’s leg, pushing him to the ground. After wrestling with the bear for more

than five minutes, the man broke free and fled the enclosure.

Authorities at the zoo in the southeastern province of Jiangxi said the panda was probably just playing with the man, who disappeared with only a tear in his trousers, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The giant panda is prized in China and seen as a conservation success story, whose cause has been championed right up to the highest levels in Beijing.

Australians mourn tree that Man wrestles giant ‘failed’ university students panda in China zoo

SYDNEY The sudden collapse of the University of Sydney’s famed jacaranda tree has triggered a wave of grief in Australia, with staff and alumni mourning a key piece of campus folklore.

The 18m-wide tree had been at the centre of university life and graduation photos since arriving in the main quadrangle 88 years ago.

It was also steeped in superstition. A popular myth asserted that undergraduates would fail their exams if they neglected to study before the

tree’s first bloom, typically in October or November.

The university deemed the collapse seismic enough to send out a press release on Saturday, declaring it was “saddened to advise” the tree had toppled over during the night.

The news quickly trended on social media, with tributes saluting the “most famous tree in Australian education” as “majestic” and the university’s “only redeeming feature”. Its death was a “tragedy”. “I have walked past it and appreciated its branches hundreds, if not thousands, of times during my life,” medical student Sarah Brennan wrote, sharing this photo she had taken the day before: Journalist Annabel Crabb

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said: “This is very sad news from overnight. But Lordy, I hope when I keel over I look this beautiful.”

Lecturer David Smith wrote: “RIP jacaranda, which had a truly great life.”

The jacaranda was planted in 1928 by Professor Gowie (EG) Waterhouse after a series of mischievous false starts, according Dr Craig Barker, who manages heritage tours of the university.

Prof Waterhouse envisaged a campus covered in jacarandas, but each time one was planted it would be mysteriously uprooted.

“Often it was students who were accused of pranks but many years later a number of university staff admitted on their retirement dinner that they had taken saplings/seedlings home with them,” Dr Barker told the BBC. The tree we know today even had two failed plantings before taking hold, he said.

The exam myth soon followed, passed down eagerly through the generations of students. It was not often taken seriously but there “was always a slight tinge of panic and urgency” when the first purple flowers appeared, Dr Barker said.

The study tactic seemed to work for Australian author Peter FitzSimons. “In 1980, I saw it was blooming, and realised I hadn’t yet started studying. Went to my room, and emerged six weeks later. PASSED!” he tweeted.

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Issue - 691 (3)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

US gun store ad says will Saudi man dumps wife of 2 hours after latter sends friends not sell to Muslims, wedding pics on Snapchat Hillary Clinton backers next gun until finally there are no guns. So if you’re supporting her, I’m not going to arm you,” Chandler was quoted as saying.

A US gun store owner has put up a sign outside his shop and also published an advertisement in a daily that says the store does not sell arms to Muslim and Hillary Clinton supporters.

The ad says “we do not feel safe selling to terrorists”.

Paul Chandler, the owner of Altra Firearms in rural Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, said he turns customers away who are Muslims or are supporting Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

POLITICALLY INCORRECT FIREARMS The store’s ad in the paper says “Please NO Muslims or Hillary Supporters? — We do not feel safe selling to terrorists!”

The 54-year-old businessman told ThinkProgress that as the owner of a store that brands itself as “politically incorrect firearms”, he is free to turn Democrats and Muslims away.

“She has clearly stated that she doesn’t think Americans should have what she calls assault weapons or even guns themselves,” he said about Clinton.

The Democratic nominee, however, has said she believes in people’s right to keep and bear arms, and will not abolish the Second Amendment.

SHE WILL TAKE THE GUNS “It is incrementalism. She will take one gun away and then she will take the next gun and the

Hizbul Chief Syed Salahuddin warns those involved in school arson attacks

Conglomerate of militant outfits United Jihad Council (UJC) on Monday said that the people of Kashmir should take up the responsibility of protecting schools in Kashmir from being set ablaze and warned that those accountable for burning of educational institutes would not be spared.

In a press statement, the Chairman UJC Syed Salahuddin while accusing “Indian Agencies” of burning the educational institutes said that “such attempts were made to portray a wrong picture of the public resistance in Kashmir, to keep away the youth of Kashmir from education, and to dent the valley’s economy.”

“We appeal the people of Kashmir to take the responsibility of protecting all private and government schools and also unveil those behind the burning of schools,” said Salahuddin.

Chander’s stand on Democratic Party leaders is not new. Earlier, he had a sign on his door telling supporters of President Barack Obama to “go to hell”.

Chandler said he is not comfortable with selling firearms to Muslims. “They want to destroy America, they want to destroy the American way of life,” he said. “I don’t feel safe arming them,” he added.

DON’T BE A HYPOCRITE As for Obama and Clinton supporters, Chandler said they have clearly said they “want to take guns out of the hands of people, and if they don’t want guns in the hands of people, I’m helping them not to be a hypocrite”.

The US Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion at public accommodations although it is unclear if a gun store qualifies under the act.

In 2015, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sued a store in Florida which declared itself a Muslimfree zone.

It was what many would call an un-appy ending!

A Saudi man dumped his bride of two hours after she broke the prenup or prenuptial agreement where she had agreed to not share pictures of the wedding on social media.

WIFE BREAKS PRENUP Sadly, the bride could not adhere to her side of the bargain and sent pictures of her wedding to her friends using Snapchat, according to a newspaper report.

The report quoted the bride’s brother as telling another Saudi newspaper that “there was a prenuptial agreement

between my sister and her fiance that she would not use social-media applications such as Snapchat, Instagram or Twitter to post or send her pictures”.

MARRIAGE CONTRACT NOT HONOURED “It was included in the marriage contract and became binding.”

“Regretfully, my sister did not honour the pledge and used Snapchat to share pictures of the wedding ceremony with her female friends, resulting in the shocking decision by the groom to cancel their marriage and call for divorce,” he was quoted as saying.

Iraqi heritage sites again at risk in Mosul operation

Baghdad Iraqi heritage sites targeted in a campaign of destruction by the Islamic State group are again at risk during the operation to retake Mosul from the jihadists. IS vandalised the Mosul museum after overrunning the city in 2014 and attacked sites including the ancient cities of Hatra and Nimrud, posting videos lauding the destruction online. As Iraqi forces close in on Mosul, the jihadists’ last main bastion in the country, officials say IS has fighters deployed at or near archaeological sites. “Our information indicates that (IS) has a presence in the archaeological sites,” Ahmed al-Assadi, the spokesman for the Hashed al-Shaabi, an umbrella organisation for pro-government paramilitary forces, told AFP. The Hashed al-Shaabi, the most powerful groups in which are Iran-backed Shiite militias, launched an operation Saturday that could see it advance through IS-held areas in Nineveh province that are home to some of Iraq’s most famed historical sites.

“We expect (IS) will try to lure the advancing forces to the sites for the purpose of increasing their destruction,” Assadi said. IS had earlier set up a training camp at Hatra, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, and still has militants deployed there, according to Ali Saleh Madhi, the local official responsible for the area.

At Nimrud, IS rigged structures with explosives and blew up the site, but the jihadists are still present nearby, said Ahmed al-Juburi, the area’s administrator. Assadi said that Hashed forces would use “extreme care” when they near the sites, and that “every effort must be made to protect and preserve them.” When the operation to retake Mosul was launched on October 17, the head of UNESCO urged parties to the conflict to protect heritage sites.

“I call on all involved in military action to protect cultural heritage and refrain from any military use or targeting of cultural sites and monuments,” Irina Bokova said. Both UNESCO and Iraq’s culture ministry said they gave coordinates of heritage sites to anti-IS forces in an effort

to protect them. Deputy Culture Minister Qais Rasheed said that anti-IS forces had been informed of sites where jihadists were present, and that IS “places weapons and sometimes trains its fighters in archaeological areas.”

The lists could help limit air strikes in sensitive areas and encourage Iraqi ground forces to exercise some restraint, but they will not hold IS back. Since overrunning swathes of Iraq in 2014, the jihadists have embarked on an orgy of destruction that they have justified as religiously mandated elimination of idols.

In reality, the attacks on Iraqi cultural heritage have been carried out for propaganda purposes, and IS has stolen and sold artefacts that it allegedly reviles to fund its operations.

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1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Why is Pakistan, where Punjabi literature was born, shunning the language? continued from page 1 Guru Hargobind, the sixth guru of the Sikhs. Guru Hargobind once stayed here and his devotees later built a gurudwara in the village.

There is a peculiar symbolism here – on the one hand, the history of this village is associated with the growth of Sikhism, a religion that elevated Punjabi to the status of a divine language, and on the other, the area now hosts the head office of a school that has deemed Punjabi to be a “foul language”. It is this contradiction that sums up the history of Pakistan’s Punjab of over the past few centuries.

It was in undivided India’s western Punjab region, which went to Pakistan after the Partition, that the first known Punjabi poet lived and preached in the 12th and 13th centuries. Known as Baba Farid Ganjshakar (treasure of sugar), a title bestowed upon him for his sweet use of the language, the Muslim saint rebelled against the literary establishment of his era that was dominated by Persian and

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Arabic by choosing to write his poetry in the vernacular Punjabi.

While several had written folk poetry in Punjabi before him, he was the first to use the language for literary purposes, which paved the way for its development.

Almost two centuries later, Punjab gave birth to Guru Nanak (in present day Nankana Saheb in Pakistan), the founder of Sikhism. Following the literary footsteps of Farid, Guru Nanak chose Punjabi as the language of his spiritual message. His message was carried forward by the 9 subsequent Sikh gurus.

About 200 years later, at the time of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th guru, Punjabi had become a sacred language and Baba Farid and Guru Nanak had become saints. Their words were enshrined forever in the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s main religious text that is considered by millions as the 11th and eternal guru for it contains the Shabad (word), or essence of God – captured in Punjabi.

Somewhere around the time of the fifth guru, Arjan, came Shah Hussain of Lahore, the mystic Sufi poet who was said to be in love with a Hindu boy, and wrote verses in Punjabi for his beloved, his god. Using the symbols of two characters of a tragic Punjabi love story, he expressed his love for god, his Ranjha, as a true devotee – as Heer. Wearing red clothes, he danced and sang on the roads of Lahore during Emperor Akbar’s reign in the 16th century. He angered religious orthodoxy, defied societal norms but remained unscathed. He was accused of many things, but never of using degraded language. His Punjabi poetry is still sung on the streets where once he danced. Then came Bulleh Shah, the mystic 18th-century poet from Kasur, whose very name symbolises Punjabi literature. As he edged closer to his death, he reminded his devotees that he would he would live on in through his poems. Even today in Kasur, Bulleh Shah dances every Thursday when Qawwals

from around the country come to his shrine and sing his songs.

Fall from grace But the sweet words of Farid, the sacred language of Nanak, Shah Hussain’s love and the eternal poetry of Bulleh Shah have today been called a “foul language” in their home. The school, on its part, eventually apologised and clarified that meant Punjabi curses, not the language – but it was too little too late. It also claimed that it was being targeted unfairly.

Perhaps they are right. The civil society has targeted this particular school but not the social phenomena that gave birth to this circular. For decades now, Punjabi has been ridiculed in its home. It has been seen as the language of the uncouth, an uncivilised language not worthy of sophisticated society. Perhaps no other school or university may have circulated such a circular, but the sentiment is shared by many. I too went to a school like Beaconhouse. While our school administration never categorically asked us not to speak Punjabi, it was understood that this was not the language to be used in a formal setting.

Middle-class parents all across Punjab prefer teaching their children Urdu and English as opposed to Punjabi, because of its perceived backwardness. There is no Punjabi newspaper in the entire Punjab Province and Punjabi literature is almost non-existent. Many Punjabi speakers can read and write in Urdu but find it hard to read the language. The classical Punjabi of Nanak and Shah Hussain is lost those who speak the language today. To some extent, a shift away from regional languages is not uncommon in countries that were colonised. The British education system, which the Pakistani state subsequently inherited, instilled this inferiority complex within the Punjabi speaker. While English was portrayed as the language of the educated,

Punjabi was regarded as that of the backward. This preference for the English language and education is also seen in India.

But the story of Punjabi in Pakistan’s Punjab is peculiar. Other parts of the country were also colonised and also imparted the British education system, but there is no such resentment towards the language of Sindhis and Pathans.

Regional newspapers and literature continue to survive in Sindh and KhyberPakhtunkhwa.

Punjabi is frequently used on national television as a comic interlude. A popular TV show features Punjabi speakers being taught the correct pronunciation of Urdu, not very different from the racism seen in the British show Mind Your Language of the 1970s and ’80s.

There is a reason why the school did not feel the need to add the word “curses” to Punjabi. Popularly, Punjabi is imagined to be a language of curses.

Price for prominence?

For years now, I have been trying to find the answer to why Punjabis have abandoned their language. There are two hypotheses. One lays the blame on colonial policy of divide and rule. In the Raj-era, Muslims identified with Urdu, Hindus with Hindi and Sikhs with Punjabi as their mother-tongues. After Partition, with the exodus of the Sikhs and Hindus, the Punjabi Muslims began identifying with Urdu instead of Punjabi, regarding Punjabi to be the language of Sikhs.

The other theory is rather intriguing.

Punjab today enjoys a unique position in the political landscape of Pakistan, dominating its political class, bureaucracy, and elite. All other provinces in the country share resentment against Punjab, which is seen as a state that enjoys certain hegemony.

Interestingly, throughout history, the socalled nationalists of Pakistan’s Punjab have called all the other provinces “antinational” at some point – Bengal in the 1960s, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after Partition, Sindh during the 1980s and Balochistan today. It has always been Punjab that has seemingly upheld the standard of nationalism and decides who is deviating from it.

And therein lies the tragedy of Punjabi.

In order to become this symbol of Pakistani nationalism – represented by Urdu, the national language – it has had to jettison its own culture and language.

There was no room for multiple regional identities alongside national identities.

In order to become more Pakistani, Punjab had to become less Punjabi.

Haroon Khalid is the author of the books In Search of Shiva: a study of folk religious practices in Pakistan and A White Trail: a journey into the heart of Pakistan’s religious minorities.

‘2016’s deadliest weekend’: 17 dead, 40 injured in Chicago street violence Chicago At least 17 people were killed and over 40 injured in Chicago’s street violence over the weekend. Two Chicago newspapers that analysed police data from Friday afternoon to early Monday called it 2016’s deadliest weekend.

Chicago police couldn’t immediately confirm that, though a spokesman said their weekend homicide count from Friday midnight through Saturday was

18. Either way, the toll surpassed the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times’ analysis of holiday weekends when violence typically spikes.

The Tribune reports six people were fatally shot over Memorial Day weekend, five over Fourth of July, and 13 over Labor Day. The October weekend deaths included seven people under 20 years old. Seventeen-year-old twin brothers were killed in a Sunday drive-by.

Issue - 691 (5)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Eight SIMI men killed in encounter, but video clips raise doubts continued from page 1 their prison clothes. It was not immediately clear how and where they procured razors and the fresh clothes.

Already aware of the jailbreak, the villagers tried to intercept the youths who allegedly whipped out pistols and threatened to kill the farmers. After the SIMI men allegedly snatched food from the farmers and left, the villagers informed a police patrol. The villagers also guided the police team towards the direction the SIMI activists had left, he said.

The SIMI activists, now perched on top of a hillock, allegedly fired at the police team, who were soon joined by commandos of the special task force, anti-terror squad and the counter-terror group.

The police said that the SIMI members were asked to surrender but they responded with gunfire. The commandos retaliated, killing the SIMI cadres on the spot. Three sniffer dogs also assisted police in the search operations. An NIA official said in Delhi that its probe will look at the video clip.

“If the veracity of video is established, we may also probe whether excessive force was

used during the encounter,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch, expressed doubts over police claims that the prisoners were armed. “The entire incident should be properly investigated.

A take-no-prisoners approach to policing is dangerous and harms efforts to create a rightsrespecting police force.”

A jail official on condition of anonymity said the SIMI activists deliberately chose the night of Diwali to escape when “some of staff would be on Diwali vacation”. The suspected SIMI men used knives fashioned out of prison-issue spoons, plates and tongue-cleaners to kill guard Ramashankar Yadav in the isolated B Block where they were lodged, sources said.

Investigations have revealed that the jailbirds used tongue cleaners and other material to fashion master keys and duplicate keys, which they used to unlock the cells before killing jail head warder Ramashankar Yadav. They then held another guard hostage between 2 and 3am before using bedsheets and wood lying

around to make a ladder and escape after scaling two walls. The Congress and other opposition parties demanded a judicial probe into the encounter while the BJP accused them of undermining the morale of security forces by raising questions over its authenticity.

“I am demanding a judicial probe…. People of the state and country must know how terrorists with such a record were able to escape from such a high-security jail and within hours caught and shot dead,” said Congress leader Kamal Nath, a Lok Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh. The CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat called the official version of the incident “highly dubious and suspicious”.

BJP spo k e s p e r s o n G V L Narasimha Rao, however, accused the Congress of batting for “terrorists… like they questioned the cross-LoC surgical strike”. SIMI was launched in 1977 for the welfare of Muslim youth but gradually adopted a more hardline ideology, especially after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. It was banned in 2001.

Jail guard killed by SIMI operatives was preparing for daughter’s wedding

New Delhi Head constable Ramashankar Yadav, who was killed by SIMI operatives on Monday, used to complain about his duty hours. “He used to say that he, at the age of 58, is not fit to keep check on terrorists,” Yadav’s neighbour and friend Bhupendra Singh recollected. “(For the) past year, he was the head warder of terrorist cell and mostly used to work at night shift.

He often complained about his odd duty hours to his seniors but didn’t get any respite. He did not celebrate Diwali because of his duty. We were waiting for him to return after which we planned to celebrate (Diwali), but it never happened,” Singh said. Yadav was killed inside the isolated B block in the jail by eight operatives of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) late on Sunday night. The men slit Yadav’s throat with a knife

fashioned out of a steel plate. Read | 8 SIMI activists killed after Bhopal jailbreak: What we know, don’t know The head constable is survived by his wife Hiramani, sons Shambhunath and Prabhunath and daughter Sonia Yadav. Both the sons serve in army. Sonia is due to be married in five weeks. “Because their sister’s wedding was due in December, the brothers did not avail leaves to come home this Diwali,” Ramashankar Yadav’s nephew Aatmaram said. “We want our father to be declared a martyr. He gave his life serving the department. He did not deserve to die like this,” the younger son, Prabhunath, said.

Shamubnath will arrive home on Tuesday for the final rituals of his father. Sonia, who was looking forward to her last Diwali with her family before her wedding, was left in deep shock at the news of Yadav’s death.

From robbing banks to making bombs: What the 8 SIMI men were accused of

Bhopal Eight suspected members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were killed by Madhya Pradesh police in an encounter on Monday, hours after they escaped from a highsecurity jail in Bhopal.

The operation took place at Acharpura village, about five kilometres north-west of Bhopal Central Jail. The eight men had broken out of jail around 2am on Monday after killing one guard and holding another hostage.

This was the second such jailbreak by members of the banned outfit in three years.

Police said four of these eight men escaped from the Tantya Bheel Jail in the state’s Khandwa district on October 1, 2013. Here’s what we know about them: Mohammad Aqeel Khilji Aqeel Khilji, a native of Ganesh Talai locality in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa, was arrested in 2012 from Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. Middle-aged Khilji is said to have played an integral role in forming the SIMI base in Khandwa district.

In 2011, 10 SIMI operatives were arrested from Khilji’s house in Khandwa. He was planning to assassinate prominent Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders.

Mehboob Guddu

A resident of Ganesh Talai in Khandwa district, Guddu was a close aide of self-styled SIMI MP chief Abu Faisal alias ‘Doctor’. He was accused in several terrorrelated cases including the 2009 triple murder of state anti-terrorism squad constable Sita Ram Yadav, a bank manager and a lawyer. He was also one of the accused in the 2008 Ahmadabad serial blast case.

He was involved in the murder of another ATS constable in Ratlam district in 2011. After escaping from Khandwa jail in October 2013, Guddu sustained severe burn injuries when a preparatory IED went off at their rented hideout in Bijnor district of west Uttar Pradesh in 2014. He was arrested along with his mother Najma Bi and three other aides from their hideout in Odisha’s Rourkela district in February 2016.

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain alias Vikki Don alias Vinay Kumar lived in a slum near Sales Tax colony in Khandwa. He was first held by the police in 2008 for allegedly procuring a fake SIM card and his association with SIMI. He was involved in a spate of bank robberies in Dewas, Katni and

Itarsi districts of MP between 2008 and 2011. He was part of the team of SIMI operatives that looted 12 kg of gold from Manappuram Gold Finance Company in 2010 from Bhopal’s Jehangirabad area.

Hussain, who was in his 30s, was

arrested with other SIMI operatives

by MP ATS in 2011. He was among the 4 SIMI operatives who escaped from a Khandwa jail in October 2013. After escaping, Zakir was involved in the Rs 46lakh heist from SBI branch in Karimnagar district of Telangana in February 2014. He was among the four SIMI operatives arrested from a hideout in Rourkela town.

Amjad Khan Amjad Khan alias Pappu alias Umer was a native of Chira Khadan in Khandwa. Amjad along with Sheikh Mehboob was accused of attempting to murder BJP councillor Pramod Tiwari in

Khandwa. The 27-year-old Amjad was arrested in June 2011 for allegedly being a part of 2010 robbery at an office of Manappuram Finance Ltd in Bhopal’s Jehangirabad area.

He was involved in bank robberies between 2008 and 2011 in MP. He was also among the seven SIMI operatives who escaped from the Khandwa jail in 2013.

Amjad was among the four SIMI operatives arrested from Rourkela town in February 2016.

Mohammad Saliq The brother of a former police constable, Saliq alias Sallu was a native of Gulshan Nagar in Khandwa. Saliq, a hardcore SIMI activist, had fled when police raided a house at Gulmohar Colony in Khandwa in 2011. After the SIMI men escaped from Khandwa jail, he had joined them during their hiding for over two years. He along with three other SIMI operatives, Zakir, Amjad, Mehboob and Mehboob’s mother Najma Bi was arrested from Rourkela in February 2016.

Mohammad Khalid Ahmad A native of Sholapur district of Maharashtra, Khalid was arrested in December 2013 along with Khandwa jail breaker group’s

head Abu Faisal alias ‘Doctor’ from Sendhwa town of MP’s Barwani district. His interrogation

by MP ATS had revealed that he was plotting to kill former Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his daughter.

Mujeeb Sheikh MP police arrested Mujeeb Sheikh, an Indian Mujahideen operative, and seven other IM and SIMI members from Jabalpur in June 2011. Later, it came to the fore that he was an accused in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blast case, planting of bombs in Surat and training of youth for jihadi activities.

After his arrest, a team from Ahmedabad crime branch visited MP to question him. Sheikh tipped off the police about Danish Riyaz, an IM operative, who had allegedly helped in sheltering the serial blast conspirators. It was on Sheikh’s information that the crime branch officers arrested Riyaz at Vadodara railway station.

Abdul Majid Majid, an electrician from Mahidpur town in Ujjain district, was an expert in making rod-bombs.

He later became a part of the SIMI sleeper cell allegedly involved in making and supplying bombs of different types. He was arrested in February 2014. Police also recovered five drums of explosives and gelatine rods in the operation.

Issue - 691 (6)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

India-origin Hillary’s aide Huma Abedin no stranger to scandals Washington She is 40 now, and has spent nearly half her life as one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides, first as the First Lady, then Senator, secretary of state and now Democratic nominee for the White House. And in full media glare.

But Huma Abedin, an American of Indian and Pakistani descent whose emails may have immersed her boss in renewed controversy, is still described as “mysterious”, as she was in the first news profiles of her as a Clintonworld power-player. In between came and went a highly publicised marriage to an ambitious New York politician, Anthony Weiner, who has turned himself into a caricature of his last name misspelt, through repeated episodes of texting explicit images of himself. Abedin remained “mysterious” through all this, as she was described in a gushy profile in the New York Observer in 2007, while an aide to Senator Clinton; she was also called “mythical”. Ten years later, in 2016, Abedin was introduced in a Newsweek article as the “mysterious Clinton confidante whose emails might change

history”.

That’s an incredibly long run for a mystery.

Abedin was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1976 to Indian-descent father, Syed Zainul Abedin, who was from Delhi and went to Aligarh Muslim University, and Pakistan-descent mother, Saleha Mahmood Abedin.

The family moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when Abedin was 2.

She was 18 when she returned to the US to study at George Washington University. Two years later, she joined the White House as an intern in the East Wing, the residential section, around the same time another intern, Monica Lewinsky, took her place in the West Wing, the executive section, and history. Abedin was a junior member of Hillary Clinton’s staff and got closer once the Clintons left the White House, and

others in the team moved on.

By 2007, Abedin was fully in charge of Clinton’s schedule. She had by now acquired a reputation of her own as well. She was always well-turned out, liked designer bags and outfits, which, people noticed, she rarely repeated.

Oscar de La Renta was a personal friend, who, he told Observer, “loved” Abedin.

And the young woman was also smart. “I’d call Huma one in a million,” Clinton’s press secretary, Philippe Reines, told the Observer then, “but that would mean there are 5,999 others in the world just like her, and there simply aren’t. She is truly one of a kind, one in a billion.

We are all in awe of her poise, grace, judgment, intellect and her seemingly endless reserve of kindness, patience and energy.” When Clinton ran first for president in 2008, Abedin was by her side as

the nominee’s “body woman”, a personal aide who carries everything from chewing gum to the boss’s cellphone, and travelling chief of staff.

And she followed Clinton to the state department as her deputy chief of staff, an assignment that would bring her into the harsh glare of public limelight, turning her into a target with her boss.

Some Republicans accused her, without evidence, of links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Abedin would soon find herself embroiled in nearly every controversy as her boss the emails, the Clinton Foundation and she was summoned to testify before a committee of the House of Representatives investigating the killing for four Americans in Benghazi, Libya in 2011.

Abedin, who has called been a “surrogate daughter” of the Clintons, has been unflinchingly loyal to them, as have they been to her during her troubles about her husband. There have been reports that some advisers want Clinton to distance herself from her aide after the renewed email controversy. But Abidin appears safe for now.

Record- breaking soup thrown away

KUCHING A shopping centre in Malaysia has apologised for throwing away 600kg of Sarawak laksa, a spicy noodle soup, after breaking the country's record for popular street food. Social media users slammed the decision to get rid of the food, equivalent to 1,500 regular sized bowls. The Plaza Merdeka in Kuching cited safety reasons for

the move. But it said the wastage was an "unfortunate oversight and misjudgement".

It took 15 cooks and 18 hours to prepare the dish.

Cheah Kheng Mun, the shopping centre's general manager, told reporters they could not "simply give away" the laksa because they had been advised to maintain the soup gravy at a certain temperature.

He also revealed that the giant bowl of laksa had started to give off an odour.

After being flooded with angry comments on its

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Facebook page, the shopping mall issued an apology.

"We are very grateful to the public for pointing out the issue of food wastage. We would not try to justify ourselves in this respect. We apologize for the oversight and misjudgement," it said.

The angry comments included Justin Lim, who wrote: "To the organiser who throws away a few hundred kilos of meat, prawns, veg and over a thousand eggs, please google "famine" first and then after that live in shame for the rest if your life."

Shar Izat Kasumajaya said: "All that the organisers thought of was acquiring the record. There are hundreds of thousands of people living under the poverty line. To throw away the equivalent of 1,500 bowls of food is just wrong. It's shameful. It's foul."

But some other users, such as Patricia Kim, hoped the apology would put an "end to the saga".

Celebrity chef Datuk Redzuawan Ismail, better known as Chef Wan, took part in the event.

Originally from the Sarawak state on the Borneo Island, the eponymous dish is a spicy rice noodle soup.

Indian-origin candidate withdraws from UKIP contest

London Raheem Kassam, who made news last week for entering the race to be leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), withdrew his candidature on Monday after concluding he was unlikely to emerge victorious.

Kassam, 30 and the son of Indian immigrants from Tanzania, had the support of the UKIP’s biggest donor, but cited three reasons for withdrawing, including journalists showing up at his elderly parents’ home at dusk and allegedly intimidating them.

He also questioned the party’s electoral process and doubted he would be able to collect enough funds to run the leadership campaign.

However, he said he continued to believe in the causes espoused by

UKIP, which has made major strides in British politics in recent years.

If elected, the former aide of Nigel Farage would have been the first Indianorigin leader of a frontline party in British politics.

Farage resigned as party leader after Britons voted to exit the European Union in a June 23 referendum, which was partly held as a result of the UKIP’s rise as it exploited growing antiEU sentiment in the country. Diane James won the leadership election in September, but stepped down 18 days later.

Farage has returned as the interim party leader until a new chief is declared elected on November 28. The contest currently appeared to be between Paul Nuttal and Suzanne Evans.

Six face trial in France over topless photos of British royal Kate

PARIS Six people, including photographers and senior media industry officials, are to face trial in France under privacy laws over the publication of photographs of Britain‘s Duchess of Cambridge topless in 2012, according to French media reports. The reports, citing French national news agency Agence France Presse and a judicial source, said those covered by the case would include senior staff at French regional newspaper La Provence, Closer Magazine, and Closer’s parent company - Silvio Berlusconi’s Arnoldo Mondadori Editore

publishing group. Neither La Provence nor Mondadori could immediately be reached for comment. The Duchess, Kate Middleton, and her husbandPrince William pressed at the time for criminal charges in France to try to prevent wider publication of the pictures, which were taken of them on a balcony of a private residence while they were on holiday in the southern Luberon region. According to Le Parisien newspaper the trial is likely to start next year.

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1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Jesus’s tomb opened for first time in centuries

JERUSALEM Preservation experts have opened for the first time in at least two centuries what Christians believe is

removed.

Debris and material was found beneath the marble and was being further studied, Aghoyan said.

Jesus’s tomb inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Some of the historic work was witnessed by AFP photographer Gali Tibbon who captured images of the site believed to contain the rock upon which Jesus was laid in around 33 AD as it was uncovered as part of ongoing restoration at the site.A marble slab covering the site, among the holiest in Christianity, was pulled back for three days as part of both restoration work and archaeological analysis, experts on the scene told AFP. It was the first time the marble had been removed since at least 1810, when the last restoration work took place following a fire, and possibly earlier, said Father Samuel Aghoyan, the church’s Armenian superior. A painting of Jesus can be seen in the narrow area above where the marble slab was

“It is moving in a sense, something we’ve been talking about so many centuries,” Aghoyan told AFP.National Geographic has been documenting the restoration work which is being carried out by a team of Greek specialists.

It reported that “the exposure of the burial bed is giving researchers an unprecedented opportunity to study the original surface of what is considered the most sacred site in Christianity”.

- Major restoration project -“My knees are shaking a little bit,” Fred Hiebert, an archaeologist-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, said in a video on the magazine’s website during the work at the shrine.

A shrine was built in the 19th century over the site of the cave where Jesus is believed to have been buried before his resurrection, and it is visited by throngs of

tourists and pilgrims each day. Earlier this year, a major restoration project began on the site, surrounded by a structure called an edicule and located at the centre of the church in Jerusalem’s Old City, underneath its dome.

The project required the agreement of the various Christian denominations that share the church, which also contains the area where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and his body anointed.The restoration project is expected to be completed around March 2017, in time for Easter, and the site has remained open to visitors for nearly the entire time, although the ornate edicule has been surrounded by scaffolding. Its marble slabs have weakened over the years, caused in part by the thousands of people who visit daily. The shrine is being painstakingly dismantled and rebuilt, the Custody of the Holy Land, which oversees Roman Catholic properties in the area, has said previously.

Broken or fragile parts are to be replaced while marble slabs that can be preserved will be cleaned, and the structure supporting them will be reinforced. The work is being funded by the three main Christian denominations of the Holy Sepulchre - Greek Orthodox, Franciscans and Armenians - and by public and private contributions.

Samsung says Note 7 probe open to ‘all possibilities’ SEOUL Samsung on Thursday acknowledged technical problems that killed off its Galaxy Note 7 may extend beyond its battery, and vowed an ongoing probe would examine all elements of the flagship smartphone. “We are investigating every aspect of the device including battery, hardware and software with the probe open to all possibilities,” said J.K. Shin, Samsung co-CEO and former head of its mobile unit.“We are trying to completely figure out if there was any error on other parts...it could be a battery, or could be something else,” he said at a shareholders’ meeting in Seoul.

Samsung initially blamed a battery made by its sister firm, Samsung SDI, when it announced in

September an unprecedented recall of 2.5 million Note 7s, some of which caught fire while charging.

But some of the replacements offered under the recall programme also caught fire, forcing Samsung to scrap the high-end handset altogether.

Shin said the replacements had featured batteries made by another firm - largely believed to be a Chinese battery maker ATL that produced batteries for the Note 7s sold in China.

The recall fiasco has taken

a major toll on the reputation of the world’s largest smartphone maker, which saw its third-quarter operating profit plunge 30 percent from a year ago.

Shin also vowed a “complete reform” of the firm’s overall production and quality control process to ward off another crisis.

“We are trying to overhaul all of our process including quality control so that our new handset to be released next year will not have a problem like this,” he said.

“We know we must work hard to earn back your trust and we are committed to doing just that,” he told the shareholders.

Shin, 60, oversaw the firm’s stellar rise in the global smartphone market as its mobile chief from 2012 to December 2015.

WhatsApp warned over privacy by European watchdog Brussels European privacy watchdogs have warned WhatsApp over sharing user information with parent company Facebook, and cautioned Yahoo over a 2014 data breach and scanning of customer emails for US intelligence purposes.

The popular messaging service’s recent change in privacy policy to start sharing users’ phone numbers with Facebook – the first policy change since WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 – has attracted regulatory scrutiny in Europe.The independent body composed of the European Union’s 28 data protection authorities said in a statement it had requested WhatsApp stop sharing users’ data with Facebook to avoid falling foul of EU data protection law.WhatsApp’s new privacy policy involves the sharing of information with Facebook for purposes that were not included in the terms of service when users signed up.

The body known as the Article 29 Working Party (WP29) said it had “serious concerns” regarding the

manner in which the information relating to the updated terms of service and privacy policy was provided to users, and consequently about the validity of the users’

WhatsApp said the company was working with data protection authorities to address their questions.

“We’ve had constructive conversations, including before our update, and we

consent.It told WhatsApp it was of “the utmost importance” that the company communicate “all the available information”.

“This includes not only but specifically information on the exact categories of data (eg names, telephone numbers, email, postal address, etc) and the source of such (eg data from the users’ phones or data already stored on company servers) as well as a list of recipients of the data and the effects of the data transfer on the users and potential third persons.”

A spokeswoman for

remain committed to respecting applicable law,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Italian antitrust watchdog also announced a separate inquiry into whether WhatsApp obliged users to agree to sharing personal data with Facebook.

Facebook has had run-ins with European privacy watchdogs in the past over its processing of users’ data. However, the fines that regulators can levy are paltry in comparison to the revenues of the big US tech companies concerned.

Issue - 691 (8)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Emma Morano, world’s oldest person and egg fanatic VERBANIA In one month it will be Emma Morano’s birthday. Though she hasn’t invited anyone, people from around the world are still likely to turn up to celebrate with the last known person alive to

have been born in the 19th century. “I’m 116 years and on 27 November, I’ll be 117,” this alert and chatty lady tells AFP in her room in Verbania, a town in northern Italy on Lake Maggiore. On a marble-topped chest of drawers stands proudly the Guinness World Records certificate declaring Morano, born in 1899, to be the world’s oldest living person.

There is also a photograph of her and her doctor Carlo Bava holding eggs: the secret to her long life appears to lie in eschewing all received medical wisdom. “I eat two eggs a day, and that’s it. And cookies. But I do not eat much because I have no teeth,” she says.

The egg habit dates from when she was diagnosed with anaemia at 20 in the wake of World War I and a doctor advised her to eat three a day, two raw and one cooked.

She maintained that regime for 90 years and is believed to have eaten over 100,000 eggs and counting.

“Emma has always eaten very few vegetables, very little fruit.

When I met her, she ate three

eggs per day, two raw in the morning and then an omelette at noon, and chicken at dinner,” said Bava, who has been her doctor for the past 27 years.

Now she lives mostly on biscuits “and does not want to eat meat because she doesn’t like it anymore and someone told her it causes cancer,” he said.

Morano is not even sure she’ll have a slice of her birthday cake, saying “the last time I ate a little, but then I did not feel good”.

She may still be some way off the previous record, held by France’s Jeanne Calment who lived to be 122, but Morano, the eldest of eight children who has outlived all her younger siblings, knows turning 117 will be an event to celebrate.

“People come. I don’t invite anybody but they come. From America, Switzerland, Austria, Turin, Milan... They come from all over to see me,” she says with

Drone halts traffic at Dubai airport

DUBAI A drone forced Dubai international airport, one of the world’s busiest, to halt air traffic for an hour and a half Saturday evening, the third such incident in less than five months.

Air space around the airport was closed from 7:25 pm to 8:49 pm (1525-1649 GMT) “due to unauthorised drone activity resulting in flight diversions” said operator Dubai Airports.

Dubai Airports stressed in a tweet that safety was its top priority and reminded drone operators that that it is

forbidden to fly them within five kilometres (three miles) of any airport. On September 28 the airport was closed for about half an hour because of an unauthorised drone while on June 12 it was forced to close for more than an hour for the same reason. UAE authorities have announced their intention to tighten the rules on the purchase and use of drones and the penalties for violating them. Around 100 airlines fly to more than 260 destinations from Dubai, which is also home to major carrier Emirates.

an amused smile.

Birthdays aside, Morano is a solitary person. Having left her violent husband in 1938 shortly after the death in infancy of her only son, she lived alone, working in a factory producing jute sacks to support herself.

She clung to her independence, only taking on a full-time caregiver last year, though she has not left her small two-room apartment for 20 years, and has been bed-bound for the last year.

While her mind is alert, she is very deaf, speaks with difficulty and does not see well enough to watch television, spending her time instead either sleeping or snacking.

Bava puts her longevity party down to genetics - Morano’s mother died at 91 and at least two of her sisters lived to be over 100 - but said having a daily routine and her great strength of character had also likely played their parts. “She is a very determined person. She has never wanted to go to hospital, she’s never received any particular (health) care. She’s suffered from a bit of bronchitis, had a (blood) transfusion, and some stitches, but always at home.” “Now she’s well, she’s very well, but it’s clear she lives every day in a very, very precarious equilibrium,” he said.

Bava admits he feels a bit like “the keeper of the Tower of Pisa, which has been leaning for centuries. The day it topples over, someone will be held responsible. “When Emma dies, people will hold me accountable”.

This openly gay imam leads Friday prayers at Cape Town mosque

Cape Town Friday prayers at the People’s Mosque in Cape Town looks like any other around the Islamic world, except in this South African city the imam is openly gay and the teaching promotes homosexual rights.

It is a stance that provokes outrage from many Muslims, but Muhsin Hendricks has built up a small, loyal congregation by helping worshippers try to reconcile their sexuality and their religion.

“There is this love-hate relationship from the Muslim community,” Hendricks told AFP. “Sometimes they feel that I should be thrown from the highest mountain, and sometimes they appreciate that there is one imam who is willing to work with people who they are unwilling to work with.”

Cape Town has an active gay scene, and is often described as the “gay capital” of Africa, with a

district of gay-friendly restaurants, bars, guesthouses and clubs near the city centre.

In 1996 Hendricks founded “The Inner Circle”, a support group for Muslims living in Cape Town who felt rejected due to their sexual orientation, which led to him setting up the mosque five years ago.

In contrast to the emotions that surround the explosive topic of Islam and homosexuality, the mosque offers a calm and open place for gay Muslims to worship together.

“I got divorced at the age of 29 after being married (to a woman) for six years,” Henrdicks, 48, said. “That was the point where I just felt no more double life. I needed to be authentic with myself, and part of that process was to come out.

“This is who I am and if that means I am going to be killed because of my authenticity, then that is how I choose to meet God.”

European space lander left crater on surface of Mars in crash-landing FRANKFURT Images taken by a NASA Mars orbiter indicate that Europe’s illfated Mars lander left a small crater on the Red Planet’s surface, backing up scientists’ theory that the craft hit the ground at high speed. The discshaped, 577-kg (1,272 lb) Schiaparelli probe, part of the Russian-European ExoMars programme to search for evidence of life on Mars, was destroyed last week when its thrusters stopped firing too soon during its descent to the surface.

It was only the second European attempt to land a craft on Mars, after a failed mission by the British craft Beagle 2 in 2003, and was designed to test technologies for a rover.

Scientists believe that the Schiaparelli lander plummeted to the ground from a height of 2 to 4 km (1.2 to 2.5 miles), hitting the ground at more than 300 km/h instead of touching down softly as it was supposed to. New highresolution pictures taken by the US Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a dark spot at the crash site, 2.4 m across, which the European Space Agency (ESA) said was consistent with

a crater made by an object of the lander’s size crashing at a speed of several hundred kilometres per hour. ESA’s scientists estimate that the crater is about 50 cm deep but are hoping for more details from further images to be taken by NASA’s orbiter in the coming weeks, ESA said in a statement published late on Thursday. But the space agency said NASA’s images also showed asymmetric dark markings

travelling much slower than a meteoroid would, having used a heat shield and parachute to slow down after entering the atmosphere of Mars, and should have been descending almost vertically.One possible explanation is that the lander’s fuel tanks could have exploded in one direction, throwing debris from the planet’s surface.

It is still unclear why the lander’s thrusters stopped firing sooner

around the crash site that were more difficult to interpret.

“In the case of a meteoroid hitting the surface at 40,000-80,000 km/ h, asymmetric debris surrounding a crater would typically point to a low incoming angle, with debris thrown out in the direction of travel,” it said in a statement.Schiaparelli was

than expected. ESA said a report of investigators’ findings was likely to be finished no later than mid-November.Landing on Mars, Earth’s neighbour and at its closest some 35 million miles (56 million km) away, is a notoriously difficult task that has thwarted most Russian efforts and given NASA trouble as well.

Issue - 691 (9)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Taiwan hostage freed by Somali A family parrot exposes husband’s affair with pirates ate mice, scorpions TAIPEI Hostages were forced to eat mice, scorpions and centipedes

to survive during the nearly five years they were held by Somali pirates, according to a Taiwanese seafarer who arrived home Wednesday. Shen Jui-chang, among 26 hostages freed from the crew of Naham 3 seized south of the Seychelles in March 2012, added he had constantly had a gun pointed at his head during his ordeal. Shen, the chief

engineer on the fishing boat, was reunited with his wife and daughter on Tuesday in

Guangzhou, southern China, after a long flight from Kenya with Chinese crew members after they were freed Sunday.

An emotional Shen arrived at Taipei’s main airport on Wednesday afternoon and said he was in “very poor physical health”.

“Every day was nerve-wracking, with the pirates pointing their AK-

Japan court orders damages for pupils’ tsunami deaths

TOKYO A Japanese court on Wednesday ordered millions of dollars compensation be paid to families of children swept out to sea by a massive 2011 tsunami. The Sendai District Court in northern Japan ruled two local governments must pay a combined 1.43 billion yen ($13.7 million) to 29 plaintiffs - parents of 23 children who were killed in the disaster - according to a court spokesman. The victims, from the public Okawa Elementary School in the city of Ishinomaki, were among a total of 74 children who perished in rising waters after being told to wait for more than 40 minutes at the school grounds with teachers, 10 of whom also died.The plaintiffs had demanded that Ishinomaki and the larger Miyagi prefecture of which it is a part pay a total of 2.3 billion yen in compensation, arguing that their children would have survived if they had evacuated to a hill just behind the school rather than waiting.“The teachers were able to predict the massive tsunami

would reach the school,” presiding judge Kenji Takamiya was quoted as saying by Jiji Press.

Public broadcaster NHK showed family members rushing towards cameras outside the court in the city of Sendai after the verdict was announced. One of them held up a banner reading, “We won: Our children’s voices were heard.”“Why did my son have to die?,” Kazutaka Sato, one of the parents, told NHK.“I still ask this question although more than five years have passed since the disaster.“I want teachers in Ishinomaki to understand how terrified my son must have been.”

In response to the verdict, Ishinomaki Mayor Hiroshi Kameyama told reporters he takes the ruling “seriously”, adding the city will decide as soon as possible whether or not to appeal.

In 2013, the same court ordered a kindergarten pay a combined 170 million yen in damages to parents of four children who died after being put on a bus that drove towards the incoming tsunami.

47 rifles at me 24 hours a day,” the frail-looking sailor told reporters.

Shen had earlier told reporters the hostages were given little to eat during their four-and-a-half years in captivity and were sometimes denied water.

Shen and the other men often caught and ate mice, scorpions and centipedes, according to Taiwanese media reports.

The crew, which also included seafarers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia, were taken hostage at the peak of Somali piracy.

Only one other crew of fishermen spent longer in the hands of Somali pirates.

Three hostages died during the hijacking, including the Taiwanese captain who Shen said was shot when he attacked the pirates with a chair.

Taiwan’s government has been criticised for not doing enough to secure the hostages’ release, but the foreign ministry said Tuesday that efforts by the countries involved in the negotiations should be recognised.

housemaid in Kuwait

Dubai A man in Kuwait almost ended up going to prison after the family parrot exposed his alleged affair with the housemaid as the pet started repeating phrases from the conversation between the two lovers in front of his wife.

The alleged illicit relationship came to light after the parrot started to repeat flirty phrases in front of his wife, the Arab Times reported.

The wife then lodged a complaint with officers at Hawally police station in Kuwait and accused the husband of cheating, noting

she had been suspecting the man for a while, the report said.

She said the husband was surprised when he saw her returning from the office before time and became nervous.

However, the prosecution officer said the case could not be regarded as crime based on lack of credible evidence and could not be admitted in court, as it could not be proved that the bird had not heard the intimate conversation on TV or the radio.

Adultery is illegal in the Gulf state, carrying a potential prison sentence or even hard labour.

but indiscriminate fishing has depleted much of the stock, driving up prices and putting the fish beyond the reach of the poor.

Anyone caught catching hilsa faces at least a year in jail under a 22-day ban that began on October 12, the start of the breeding season. Armed forces have been deployed to patrol 7,000 square kilometres of rivers, estuaries and sea declared a breeding sanctuary. “We are patrolling the rivers day and night. It’s like a curfew,” fisheries department official Iqbal Hossain said from the coastal river district of Patuakhali. “One mother (hilsa) can lay two million eggs per year. So one can easily understand how big the production will be if the protection drive is successful,” said Hossain. Hilsa is the most

sought-after delicacy for 160 million Bangladeshis and another 90 million Bengalis who live in eastern India.

Bangladesh has introduced temporary bans on catching it before, but they have never been enforced this thoroughly.

“A war is ongoing to keep the mother hilsa safe,” said Jahid Habib, who is campaigning to save the fish.

Bangladesh has already banned fishermen from catching young hilsa at certain times of the year.

Five years ago it banned the export of the fish to India.

Some critics said the drive will hit fishermen in the impoverished country. But Hossain said authorities were giving free rice to 32,000 fishermen during the ban to make up for the financial loss.

Bangladesh arrests 900 in bid to save favourite fish

DHAKA Bangladesh has arrested more than 900 fishermen and deployed the army to patrol its waterways after introducing a temporary ban on catching hilsa in an effort to save the hugely popular fish.

Some 60 percent of the world’s hilsa are caught in Bangladesh,

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Issue - 691 (10)

Punjabi Sikh parents seek a match for their Canadian born & raised, clean shaven son, 33 yrs. old, 6’-1" tall, handsome, Doctor M.D., completed internal Medicine residency & fellowship (Specialization), now working as a specialist in G.T.A. The girl should be resident Doctor/M.D. or Physician, Born & raised in Canada from Ontario, beautiful atleast 5’-6" tall with family values. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: sm9058@hotmail.com ***682*** Saini Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance from the GTA for their slim, fair, beautiful, 5’2"/’83 born daughter, born, raised, educated in Canada, Bachelors in Business Management, and employed in the Finance division of a reputable Canadian company.

The boy should be clean shaven, born, raised and educated in Canada & professionally employed.

Please email sub2405@gmail.com or call 416-741-0777 *** 680*** Well settled Press Reporter in Canada, age 50+, 6’ tall, B.Sc., M.A.B.Ed, Post graduate diploma in journalisim, retired as Prinicpal from India, earning good pension, wife expired in 2010.

Looking for a life partner between 45-55, family oriented, must hae Master’s degree, Ph.d or having experience in journalism, prefered Pakistani West Punjabi.

Two daughter’s married and well settled in Canada. Owns property in India. Divorced may also be considred.Please Call : 647-821-7170 ***680*** Hindu Pujabi Khatri parents looking for a suitable match for their daughter, 39 yrs., 5’-5” tall, working as Administrative Manager in a reputed concern in India, widow (Two sons 15 and 12 yrs.) The boy should be Canadian Immigrant/Citizen and family oriented. Parents and two real brothers are very well settled in Milton (Canada) for the last 16 yrs. Caste no bar. PleaseCall : 647-892-6498 Or : 289-878-9285 ***680*** Jat Sikh parents invite a matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 33 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, Canadian Citizen, Post graduate, employed in one of the reputed banks of Canada, divorced after a brief marriage (no kids). The boy should be Canadian Citizen, Jat Sikh, well educated and professionally employed. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: gill.roop@hotmail.com Or Call : 1-604-615-4316 Or : 1-778-9547274 ***680** Jat Sikh parents invite a matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 29 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, Diploma in Hair dressing from Australia, beautiful, family oriented from a good family background, living in India and managing Canadian family

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

business in India and Africa, widw (one daughter). The boy should be Canadian/American, Immigrant/Citizen, well educated, settled with family values. Whole family is well settled in Canada.

Respond with family details to:dsahsi@gmail.com Or Call : 1-604-618-5834 ***680*** Well settled Jat Sikh parents seeking professionally qualified Jat Sikh match from U.S.A. or willing to relocate in U.S.A. for their daughter, 36 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, American Citizen, Graduated, Currently Working as Human Resource Information Systerm “HIRS” Analyst with well known Health Care Organisation in Bay Areas, California. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: wss4279@gmail.com Or Call : 1-408-657-7644 ***680*** Sikh Khatri parents seek a suitable match for their teetotaler, US Citizen son, 28 yrs. old, 5’4’’ tall, master’s degree in engineering from a top US university, working at a private company in New York area. The girl should be family oriented, educated, beautiful, preferably residing in US. Please send your biodata & recent pictures to: chhabra.harjitsingh59@gmail.com or call: 1- 347- 921-1453 *** 680*** Punjabi Brahman Doctor parents seek a suitable match beautiful girl for their son, 28 yrs. old, 6’ tall, doctor in punjab. The girl should be beautiful, preferably from medical line. The boy wants to settle his own business in Ontario. Any upper caste also welcome. Younger brother software engineer is in Ottawa and relatives are well settled in Ontario & Quebec. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to:ishan247@yahoo.co.in or call: or call: 011-91- 91987-2614118 *** 680*** Jat Sikh educated family seek a suitable match for their American citizen daughter, 31 yrs. old (born in 1985), 5'-3" tall, well settled in job. Boy preferred to be in USA or have a work permit.Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: bobby21_52@yahoo.com or call: 1- 209-629-3506 *** 680*** Suitable match for Jassal boy, 26 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, clean shaven, B.Pharma, Own Business in India. The girl should be Canadian Immigrant or Citizen. Parents Currently in Canada on visitor visa. The boy’s two sisters are well settled in Canada. Caste No Bar. Please Call : 416-540-0080 ***680*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their Mangleek son, 25 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, Canadian Immigrant, Bachelor in IT, well settled. The girl should be Canadian/American, Immigrant/ Citizen, educated with family values atleast 5’-5” tall. First preference goes to Chandigarh,

Mohali and Patiala. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: barren44@gmail.com Or Call : 1-206-229-3330 ***680*** Jat Sikh Gill family seeks a suitable match for their daughter, 33 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, College graduate with diploma in Business Administration and Accounting. The boy should be 33-37 yrs. of age, well qualified and raised in Canada. Please Call : 905-874-0721 ***680*** Tonk Kshatriya Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their Canadian Citizen daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, B.Com, CGA, Working with the government.

The boy should be Canadian Citizen or PR, equally qualified, well settled in job in Toronto or surrounding area. Preferebly clean shaven. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: singhjag_@hotmail.com Or Call : 416-722-9771 ***680*** Looking for suitable match for 34 yrs. old, Canadian born male, 5’5” tall, with athletic built, minor physical disability, however fully independent and capable. The girl should be from Canada/ America only. Divorced may also be considred. Please Call : 1604-722-0279 Or : 1-604-525-8062 ***680*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 26 yrs. old, 5’-2.5” tall, American Citizen, Registered Nurse (RN).

The boy should be professionally educated. Seattle (USA), Malwa (India) prefered. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: rurkaps08@yahoo.com Or Call : 1-206-391-8477 ***680*** Saraswat Brahmin family seek a suitable match for their son, 28 yrs. old, 5’-7” tall, M.Tech.

Mechanical, College Professor in India. The girl should be educated, American/Canadian Immigrant or Citizen. Uncle is well settled in U.S.A. Caste No Bar. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: ashokkumar1955@hotmail.com Or Call : 1-408-960-9190 ***680*** Well settled Ramgarhia Sikh family seeks a professionally qualified match from Canada for their beautiful, fair daughter, 25 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, Architect, P.R. Applied, based at Hyderabad India. Father retired Army Major & Businessman.

Please respond with bio-data and recent picture to: gurubani97@hotmail.com Or Call : 647-669-7997 ***680*** Punjabi Brahmin family seek a suitable match for their son, 28 yrs. old, 6’ tall, M.S. (Artho Doctor), working in Govt. Hospital in India as a surgeon, wants to settle his own Business in Canada. The girl should be from Medical Profession, beautiful, Canadian Immigrant/Citizen atleast 5’-6” tall or above. Caste

No Bar. Brother & Close relatives are well settled in Canada. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: mehta_tarun@yahoo.com Or Call : 647-282-9503 Or : 647-347-3685 ***680*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter, 33 yrs. old, 5’-7” tall, U.S.A. born, beautiful, Degree in Accounting & Finance, working in her own field, family oriented. The boy should be atleast 6’ tall, handsome, equally educated, preferably from Bay Area. The boy on HI Visa can be considred. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: balwindersaran2560@gmail.com Or Call : 1-408-849-1525 ***680*** Sikh Khatri parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 32 yrs. old, 5’-7” tall, teetotaller, working as software consultant in Wisconsin on H1B Visa. Green Card is in process. Looking for a family oriented educated girl.Please respond with bio-data and recent picture to: rktsp4554@yahoo.com Or Call : 1-414-552-7913 ***680*** Sharma family seek a suitable match for their son, 34 yrs. old, 5'-8'’ tall, fair, Masters degree in business and technology from University of Waterloo, Masters in computers applications from India, Canadian immigrant (PR), working as an I.T engineer in Tata Consultancy services / BMO in Toronto. The girl should be Canadian/American immigrant/ Citizen, well educated/qualified.

The girl on student visa or work visa can also contact. Caste no bar. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: aseemsharma27@gmail.com *** 680*** Punjabi Sikh parents seeking a match for their Canadian born & raised, clean shaven son, 33 yrs. old, 6’-1” tall, handsome, Doctor M.D., completed internal Medicine residency & fellowship (Specialization), now working as a specialist in G.T.A. The girl should be resident Doctor/M.D. or Physician. Born & raised in Canada from Ontario, beautiful atleast 5’-6” tall with family values.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: sm9058@ hotmail.com ***680*** Khatri parents seeking a suitable match for their daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5’-2” tall, Amrican Citizen, professionally settled (Doctor) in her job. The boy should be American Citizen, well educated

and well settled in job. Please Call : 1-347-251-9112 ***680** Prajapat parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter 25 yrs. old, 5’-2” tall, B.Sc. Nursing degree holder, working in govt. job in India, beautiful, family oriented.

The boy should be American Citizen, educated and from a good family background. Close relatives well settled in America. Please Call : 1-916-505-8907 Or : 011-9195929-25551 ***680*** Saini parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daugher, 28 yrs. old, 5’-2” tall, beautiful, family oriented American Citizen, Master’s degree in Computer information systems and working in IT Deptt. The boy should be well educated, professionally employed with family values from California or willing to relocate to California. Doaba area prefered.

Please email recent picture and bio-data to: saini.bayarea@gmail.com Or Call : 1-408-338-7681 ***680*** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their beautiful daugher, 25 yrs. old, working as RN in Seattle (USA), completed BSN in Nursing. The boy should be born in Canada/Ameriaka, well educated, professionally (Doctor, Dentist) employed and with moderate family values from BC only. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: madamk1940@gmail.com Or Call: 1-778-564-5300 ***680*** Arora Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daugher, 34 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, B.A. B.Ed., M.B.A., Certification in beautician, beautiful, family oriented, living in India. The boy should be American Citizen/Green Card holder, educated, well settled, non-drinker in America.

Please email recent picture and bio-data to: kumarsonia660@gmail.com Or Call: 1-408-476-0721 ***680*** Sikh Saini family seeking suitable match for their US-born son, 25 yrs. old, 6' tall, Masters in Biomedical Engineering and working in a medical company.

The family resides in California USA. The girl should be educated, tall, family oriented. The family resides in California. USA Preferred. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: cheraj@msn.com or call: 1-408612 4563 *** 680***

Lady Helper White House Canada in Brampton, requires a Live-in lady helper. Hotel experience preferred but will train the suitable candidate. Must be available to stand, walk and bend for extended periods of time. Duties include making beds, dusting, cleaning bathroom, vacuuming, replenishing supplies, cooking and elderly care (1 hr. daily approx)

Pls. call

647-970-2665

Issue - 691 (11)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Japan defends whale hunts for ‘science’ PORTOROZ In the crosshairs of anti-whaling nations, Japan defended its annual Southern Ocean whale hunt, insisting it was gathering scientific data even as detractors

accused it Thursday of harvesting meat under false pretences.Japan denied claims at the 66th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that it was abusing an exemption to a 30year-old whaling moratorium which allows kills for science.

And it insisted its actions were in keeping with a 2014 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found that permits issued by Japan were “not for purposes of scientific research” and instructed the country to halt its JARPA II programme.

“Reports oftentimes say (that) irrespective of the ICJ judgment Japan started the research, or in

violation of the ICJ judgment... and that’s not true,” Japan’s commissioner to the IWC, Joji Morishita told fellow delegates on Thursday.

In the judgment of the court itself,

“it is clear that the ICJ assumes there can be future research activities,” he insisted. “The ICJ also said... that the use of lethal sampling per se is not unreasonable in relation to the research objectives.”

After the court ruling, Japan cancelled its 2014-15 hunt, only to resume it the following year under a new programme called NEWREP-A (New Scientific Whale Research Program in the Antarctic Ocean). It killed 333 minke whales in the Southern Ocean - many of them pregnant, according to observers. The Southern Ocean hosts one of two whale sanctuaries in the world. The issue is a deeply

Indian, Afghan spy agencies patronising terror, Pakistan tells US

Islamabad Pakistan on Wednesday conveyed to the US that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) are patronising terrorist groups to attack soft targets in the country.

National Security Adviser Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua (retd) conveyed this message to US ambassador David Hale in a meeting on Wednesday, said a statement released by the NSA’s office. The meeting was held to discuss the terrorist attack on the Police Training College in Quetta, counter-terrorism operations and cross-border attacks, Dawn reported.

Janjua also emphasised on the need to break the nexus between terrorist groups which he alleged were operating under the supervision of NDS and RAW. Pakistan has asked for US

assistance to tackle the situation.

The NSA informed the ambassador that the terrorists who attacked the police training college were constantly in contact with their leadership and handlers in Afghanistan.

The US envoy was also briefed by the NSA on Pakistan’s efforts to improve the current security situation in the country through implementation of the National Action Plan.

Hale condemned the attack in Quetta and offered his regrets.

He also offered American support in countering terrorism in the country.

Heavily-armed militants wearing suicide vests stormed a police academy in Quetta, killing at least 61 people and wounding at least 117 others on Monday night, in the deadliest attack on a security installation in the country’s history.

divisive and recurring one at the biennial meetings of the IWC, the world’s whaling watchdog which turned 70 this year. The meat from Japan’s hunts ends up on supermarket shelves and in restaurants, in line with an IWC stipulation that whales taken for research must be eaten.

Under an IWC moratorium that entered into force in 1986, all whaling other than for aboriginal subsistence, or science, is prohibited.Japan hunts under the science exemption, while Norway and Iceland lodged formal objections to the moratorium and continue commercial hunts.

On the table of this year’s IWC meeting is a proposal by New Zealand and Australia for a much more stringent review of scientific whaling programmes.

New Zealand’s commissioner Amy Laurenson expressed her country’s “deep disappointment” with Japan’s resumption of whaling without IWC approval.

Japan had referred NEWREP-A to the IWC’s scientific committee, but started whaling before it could complete a review, she said, and accused Tokyo of sidelining the commission.

“On the basis of the information the commission has before it, it is clear that NEWREP-A is not in fact for purposes of scientific research,” the commissioner argued, and called on Japan to “cease the lethal component of NEWREP-A”.

“Japan has still not justified the use of lethal sampling,” she said.

Morishita insisted his country had responded to the court’s concerns “in a satisfactory manner”.“We know this is a contentious issue, but facts, law and science should be the basis for further discussion on this issue,” he said. Country negotiators have been grappling with the proposal for stricter review since Monday, trying to draft a consensus text. If they fail, the proposal will be put to a vote - possibly later on Thursday.

Apple designer’s chest of drawers sells for over $1m PARIS A chest of drawers by the star Australian designer Marc Newson has sold at auction in Paris for more than one million euros, more than twice its estimate. The piece called “Pod of drawers” by the creator who has worked for Apple for the past decade, was bought for 1.019 million euros ($1.1 million) by an Asian buyer, the auction house Artcurial said Tuesday. Newson, 53, made the shiny aluminium drawers by hand in 1987 while he was at art school having earlier trained as a jeweller. In theory, Thailand would then able to sell the rice at a higher price because there was less supply.

Modi takes up with Australian PM killing of Indian-origin bus driver

New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday raised with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull India’s concern over the brutal killing of a 29-year-old Indianorigin bus driver, who was burned to death when a man poured some flammable liquid on him in Brisbane.

Prime Minister Modi telephoned Turnbull to wish him on Diwali and also conveyed a “sense of concern being felt in India over the recent brutal killing of Mr Manmeet Alisher, a person of Indian origin, in Australia,” a Prime Minister’s Office statement here said.

Alisher, a well-known singer in the Punjabi community, was

driving a Brisbane City Council bus on Friday when he was targeted by the man who threw an “incendiary device” at him which sparked a fire.

Alisher died on the spot while several passengers on board the bus at the time managed to escape through the rear door.

Turnbull expressed shock at the killing and conveyed to Modi that the matter is being investigated.

Prime Minister Modi reiterated his invitation to Premier Turnbull for a visit to India in 2017, the statement said.

Police had earlier said that there was “no apparent motive” including terror or race related in the killing of the Indian-origin man.

Australian, NZ carriers ban recalled Note 7 SYDNEY Australian and New Zealand airlines barred the recalled Samsung Note 7 from all planes starting Sunday citing its “potential fire risk”, after a similar ban was imposed by US officials.

Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has halted production of its latest flagship mobile device and recalled all Note 7 phones and replacements following reports of exploding batteries and fires. “(The ban) is due to concerns regarding potential fire risk from the device’s battery after a number of incidents worldwide and follows a ban put in place by regulators overseas,” Qantas and its discount carrier Jetstar said in a statement late Saturday. “The ban applies to devices being carried onto the aircraft, in carry-on baggage as well as check-in luggage. “ Virgin Australia, Tigerair Australia and Air New Zealand issued similar

announcements.

Virgin and Air New Zealand “strongly advised” passengers not to bring the Note 7 phone to airports.

“They cannot be accepted for travel and there is no storage facility available for them at our check-in areas,” Air New Zealand added.

The Australian carriers previously told customers not to use or charge the smartphone if they were carrying it onboard flights, after Samsung’s initial recall of the “phablet” last month.

US officials Friday barred all Note 7s from airplanes and said anyone attempting to travel with the recalled handsets may face fines and have the devices confiscated.

The Note 7 crisis is set to cost the South Korean electronics giant billions in lost profits, and is a blow to a firm that prides itself on the quality production of cutting-edge technology.

Pak govt cancels identity cards of 2000 suspected militants The Pakistan government has cancelled the National Identity Cards of more than 2,000 people believed to be associated with banned terror groups though no such action has been taken against members of anti-India

organisations.The interior ministry announced it was cancelling the NICs of members of militant organisations that have been “blacklisted” and are believed to be involved in sectarian and terror attacks in Pakistan.

Issue - 691 (12)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Dutch anti-Islam MP Wilders to snub hate speech trial Hague Defiant Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders said Friday he will refuse to attend his hate speech trial next week, dubbing it a travesty aimed at silencing him as the country prepares for 2017 elections.

The trial opens on Monday before a three-judge bench with the farright politician facing charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred for comments he made about Moroccans living in the Netherlands. “It is my right and my duty as a politician to speak about the problems in our country,” Wilders said in a statement Friday, dubbing the case “a political trial, in which I refuse to cooperate”.

It comes as opinion polls have shown his far-right Freedom Party (PVV) doing well ahead of March elections. After riding high amid the migrant crisis, the party is now polling neck-and-neck with Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberals each predicted to win between 25 to 29 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

Set to last until November 25, the trial focuses on a comment made at a March 2014 rally when Wilders asked supporters if they wanted “fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?”

When the crowd shouted back “Fewer! Fewer!” Wilders answered: “We’re going to organise that.”

It is the second such trial for Wilders who was acquitted on similar charges in 2011.

- ‘Voice of millions’ Wilders said Friday he would leave his defence in the hands of his lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops and instead “go to work” in the parliament in The Hague.

The court confirmed in a statement that the trial would go ahead, adding like any defendant Wilders had the right not to appear.

While the court can force someone to turn up, “it is not known whether it will do so in this case,” it added.

Wilders’ 2014 statements were met with outrage including from the small, but vocal Dutch Muslim community.

An avalanche of 6,400 complaints followed, and he faced condemnation from fellow MPs. Judges earlier this month dismissed arguments by Wilders’ lawyers that the trial was “politically motivated” adding they did not believe it will impact the PVV’s election campaign.

Politicians “are granted broad freedoms of expression because of their official position,” the judges ruled last month.

Islamic State says its ‘soldier’ stabbed teenagers in Germany’s Hamburg

Berlin A follower of Islamic State was responsible for a stabbing attack on two youths in the German city of Hamburg two weeks ago, the militant group’s Amaq news agency said on Sunday.

In the incident, the unknown perpetrator attacked a young couple sitting under a bridge at the Alster river in downtown Hamburg. He stabbed the 16year-old man repeatedly from behind and kicked his 15-yearold female companion into the river.

The stabbing victim died of his injuries shortly afterwards in hospital while the young woman managed to escape.

“A soldier of the Islamic State stabbed two individuals in Hamburg city on the 16th of this month,” Amaq said. “He carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of

coalition countries.”

A police spokesperson in Hamburg declined to comment on Islamic State’s claim and only referred to an earlier statement the police issued shortly after the attack.

According to that statement, the attacker was of “southern appearance”, aged between 23 and 25 years and had a designer stubble.

The background of the act is unknown and the subject of investigation, police said back then.

Experts say it is not clear how close the connection is between groups and individuals proclaiming allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.

The Islamist organisation is increasingly under pressure from regional and international forces in its Middle East heartland of Syria and Iraq.

“Precisely therefore politicians have an important role to avoid feeding intolerance by making these kind of public statements.”

Wilders hit back Friday saying “it is a travesty that I have to

because they are sick and tired of the nuisance and terror caused by so many Moroccans.”

- ‘Ban the Koran’ Wilders drew flak when he

stand trial because I spoke about fewer Moroccans.” “Millions of Dutch citizens (43 percent of the population) want fewer Moroccans,” he claimed.

“Not because they despise all Moroccans or want all Moroccans out of the country, but

unveiled his party’s controversial election programme saying he would confiscate Korans and close mosques if he wins the elections. He is often described as “the most heavily guarded man” in The Netherlands and the trial is taking place in a high-

security courthouse in Schiphol.

His name has “appeared on hitlists drawn up by Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the Islamic State group”, according to his lawyer.

If found guilty, Wilders could face up to two years in jail or a fine of more than 20,000 euros ($22,000).

But as he would be a first-time offender, a lower fine or community service were more likely options, said Rolf Hoving, Dutch criminal law expert at Groningen University. A conviction will also not bar him from office under Dutch law.

“If he is acquitted ... it will surely boost his popularity, but if found guilty, it will put people off from voting for him,” said biographer Meindert Fennema.

Retired politics professor Philip van Praag agreed, but said a guilty verdict would further isolate Wilders from other political parties. “He will always remain in the opposition. He is the eternal opposition leader. Always against the establishment,” he told

Brussels The European Parliament awarded its Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought on Thursday to two Iraqi Yazidi women who were held as sex slaves by Islamic State militants and now campaign for human rights.

Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar were among thousands of women and girls abducted, tortured and sexually abused by Islamic State fighters after the militants rounded up Yazidis in the village of Kocho, near Sinjar in northwest Iraq, in 2014.

The Yazidi are a religious sect whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions. Islamic State considers them devil-worshippers.

“This is a very symbolic and significant decision to support these two survivors who came to Europe as refugees and found shelter in the European Union,” European Parliament president Martin Schulz told a news conference after the announcement.He added the prize meant the parliament was now supporting them in their fight not only for dignity but to give testimony as witnesses to atrocities.Islamic State insurgents overran Sinjar in August 2014, systematically killing, capturing and enslaving thousands of Yazidi inhabitants.Murad, now aged 23, was held by IS in Mosul but escaped her captors in November 2014, reached a refugee camp and eventually made her way to Germany.

She has since become active as an advocate for the Yazidis, and refugee and women’s rights in general, as well as campaigning against human trafficking.

She has briefed the U.N. Security Council on the problem of human trafficking and last month launched Nadia’s Initiative

to help victims of genocide. She has called for the massacre of Yazidis to be recognised as genocide.

Bashar, 18, was captured in the same raid as Murad and also

Russian dissident and scientist Andrei Sakharov is awarded each year by the European Parliament. Set up in 1988, it honours individuals and organisations defending human

kept as a sex slave by IS. She escaped in March but was badly disfigured and blinded in one eye when a landmine went off as she fled. Two companions were killed.She now lives in Germany, where she has undergone treatment for her wounds, and works as an advocate for the Yazidis.Mass Yazidi graves have been uncovered in the area north of Sinjar mountain, which was taken from IS in Dec. 2014.

Kurdish forces retook Sinjar town in November 2014 in a two-day offensive backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition UN investigators said in a report in June that Islamic State is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the religious community of 400,000 people through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes.Such a designation, rare under international law, would mark the first recognised genocide carried out by non-state actors, rather than a state or paramilitaries acting on its behalf.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after the late

rights and basic freedoms.

Murad and Aji Bashar were selected by Schulz and political group leaders from a shortlist with two more political nominees.

The others were Can Dundar, a leading Turkish journalist sentenced to six years in prison for publishing state secrets involving Ankara’s Syria operation, and Mustafa Dzhemilev, a senior Crimean Tartar politician and human rights activist banned by Russia from entering the annexed Crimea peninsular.

Last year, the prize went to Raif Badawi, a blogger from Saudi Arabia serving a prison sentence for insulting Islam.

Two former Islamic State sex slaves win prestigious EU human rights award

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416-992-5489

Issue - 691 (13)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

IS fighters ‘shave beards’ as pressure builds on Mosul

Iraq Islamic State group fighters were shaving their beards and changing hideouts in Mosul, residents said, as Iraqi forces moved ever closer to the city Wednesday and civilians fled in growing numbers.

Reached by AFP inside Mosul, several residents said the jihadists seemed to be preparing for an assault after recent advances on the eastern front brought elite Iraqi forces to within five kilometres (three miles) of city limits.“I saw some Daesh (IS) members and they looked completely different from the last time I saw them,” said a resident of eastern Mosul who gave his name as Abu Saif.

“They had trimmed their beards and changed their clothes,” the

former businessman said. “They must be scared... they are also probably preparing to escape the city.”

Residents and military officials said many IS fighters had relocated from eastern Mosul to their traditional bastions on the western bank of the Tigris river, closer to escape routes to Syria.

The sounds of fighting on the northern and eastern fronts of the Mosul offensive could now be heard inside the city, residents said, and US-led coalition aircraft were flying lower over the city than usual.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi fighters have been advancing on Mosul from the south, east and north after an offensive was launched on October 17 to retake the last major Iraqi city

Woman’s father, 5 others get life term for couple’s honour killing in Hoshiarpur

Hoshiarpur A district court on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to a father-son duo besides four others in a case of honour killing at Muggowal village in Hoshiarpur district.

Sodhi Ram along with his son Bhupinder Pal and other aides was facing trial for hacking his newlywed daughter Khushboo and her husband Sandip Kumar to death in January 2015.

Sandip, who was 24 at the time of the incident, and Khushboo, 22, both Dalits and neighbours in Muggowal village, had eloped in October 2014. They were granted police protection by the Punjab and Haryana high court, but the cops’ alleged failure to act on the orders resulted in their cold-blooded murder.

Besides convicting the six of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),

additional sessions judge BS Deol also found them guilty under Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) for the attack on Sandip’s family.

The other convicts handed the life term are Avinash Chander of Muggowal, Sarabjit Singh of Ajnoha, Amarjit Singh of Panjora and Sandip Kumar of Kapurthala.

Three other persons named in the first-information report (FIR) have been acquitted for want of evidence, while one remains a proclaimed offender.

The convicts had attacked the newlyweds with sharp-edged weapons a few days after they returned to Sandip’s house in January 2015. In the attack, Sandip’s father, Parkash, who tried to intervene, was badly injured. On the statement of Sandip’s mother, Udham Kaur, the Chabbewal police had registered an FIR.

under IS control.

The assault is being backed with air and ground support from the US-led coalition which launched its campaign against IS two years ago, shortly after the jihadists seized control of large parts of Iraq and Syria.

‘Wave of displaced’ Iraqi federal forces, allied with Kurdish peshmerga fighters, have taken a string of towns and villages in a cautious but steady advance over the last week in the face of shelling, sniper fire and suicide car bombings.

Some 3,000 to 5,000 IS fighters are believed to be inside Mosul, Iraq’s second city, alongside more than a million trapped civilians.

Aid workers have warned of a major potential humanitarian

crisis once fighting begins inside the city itself.

An Iraqi minister said Wednesday that more than 3,300 civilians fleeing the fighting had sought help from the government the day before, the most for a single day so far.

There was “a big wave of displaced people that is considered the greatest number since the start of the military operation to liberate Nineveh province,” Displacement and Migration Minister Jassem Mohammed al-Jaff said in a statement.

Numbers of displaced residents were growing but stood at a relatively low 8,940 on Wednesday, according to a UN tally, because most of the fighting so far has taken place in sparsely populated areas.

Civilians in villages on the eastern outskirts of Mosul were being bused to a camp near Khazir, an AFP correspondent reported.

“The army made us get out, they told us to leave and said we would see about the details of our settlement” in a camp, said Umm Ali, a 35-year-old woman.

“We used to live in terror night and day, the shelling was coming closer. The Islamic State controlled our lives, so we decided to flee,” said Essam Saadou, a 22-year-old student.

A wave of displaced residents was also expected Wednesday from Al-Shura, an IS stronghold between Mosul and Qayyarah,

the main staging base on the southern front, federal police said.

Sights set on Raqa As the noose tightened on Mosul, 13 defence chiefs from the 60-nation coalition meeting in Paris set their sights on Syria’s Raqa, which would be the last major city under IS control if it loses Mosul.

“We have already begun laying the groundwork for our partners to commence the isolation of Raqa,” US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said after the talks.

The coalition -- which also includes Britain and France -has provided support in the form of thousands of air strikes, training for Iraqi forces and advisers on the ground.

France said Wednesday it had extended the mission of its aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, in the eastern Mediterranean until at least midDecember to help the offensive on Mosul.

President Francois Hollande decided to extend the mission after France’s defence council “reviewed the military, humanitarian, political and security stakes involved in the recapture of Mosul,” a statement issued by his office said.

Leaders in Paris on Tuesday also discussed the post-IS future of Mosul, which is an ethnically and religiously mixed region and where achieving a political compromise might prove even harder than a military victory.

Man who killed Punjabi bus driver in Australia has ‘history of mental illness’ New Delhi A man with a reported history of mental illness was on Saturday remanded in custody after being charged with the murder of Punjab-born bus driver Manmeet Alisher in the Australian city of Brisbane.

Anthony Mark Edward O’Donohue, 48, allegedly hurled an incendiary device at Alisher on Friday, setting him alight and killing him on the spot. The family of Alisher, 29, has said they believe the attack was racially motivated though Brisbane police said there was no apparent motive for the killing.

O’Donohue, who was injured in the attack, appeared briefly in the Brisbane magistrates court on Saturday morning and was charged with the murder of Alisher, 11 counts of attempted murder related to passengers in the bus and arson, ABC reported.

Outside the court, his lawyer Adam Magill said O’Donohue was “numb”. He added, “His major concern as far as I’m concerned at this point in time is his mental health, that needs to be assessed.”

Magill acknowledged the case was “very heinous” and said he did not expect O’Donohue to apply for bail.

“He’s numb at this stage...I don’t think he’s feeling anything at this

point in time. He’s trying to come to terms with what happened himself,” Magill said.

Police officials were astonished

arrested on the spot.

Superintendent Jim Keogh said there was “no apparent motive” for the attack and that police had

by O’Donohue’s reaction after the attack. The 7 News channel quoted its sources as saying that when detectives arrived at the scene of the attack, O’Donohue was sitting casually and saying nothing other than “I want a lawyer”.Police delayed entering O’Donohoe’s nearby apartment because they feared it could be booby-trapped. O’Donohue has a history of mental illness but he had never done anything as violent as Friday’s attack, police said. Officials said on Friday that Alisher “stood no chance” and died soon after the device was thrown at him. O’Donohue, who was among passengers waiting to board the bus at a stop when he carried out the attack, was

ruled out terrorism.

Bus drivers across Brisbane wore black armbands on Saturday as a mark of respect for Alisher and his family. The flag over the City Hall in Brisbane flew at half mast.

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Goan, Goan, gone? Indian state losing laid back image BAGA Goa has long attracted Western holidaymakers for its relaxed vibe, but rapid construction, swelling crowds and fears over safety are threatening the Indian state’s global reputation as a tranquil haven.

The former Portuguese colony is transforming from a quiet paradise popular with international hippies to a heavilydeveloped entertainment destination for higherincome foreign and domestic visitors who want five-star luxury, tourism officials say.

“The laid back tourist might go to other destinations because Goa is changing but now there are lots of other segments coming such as MICE tourism (meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions),” Savio Messias, president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, told AFP. “Goa is also getting to be a very big wedding destination and a lot people are now coming for entertainment,” he added.

Billboards advertising luxury developments dot Goa’s lush landscape, with Messias saying many new hotels, including big chains, are opening up every year.

Government statistics show Indian visitors soared by 34 percent to 4.7 million

last year from 2014 while foreigners increased by just 5 percent as the number of charter flights plummeted.

The sluggish global economy and a slump in the value of the Russian ruble are regularly cited as factors but local businesses fear Westerners are being turned off by Goa’s rapidly altering landscape.

“Day by day the number of foreigners coming is getting less because they hear it is too crowded here now. They want peace and quiet.

“Over the past two to three years business has been very low,” Mohammed Sultan, a jewellery shop owner at Baga beach, told AFP. An imminent ban on alcohol consumption in some public areas, plans to shift the popular Sunburn music festival out of peak season and ministers’ comments that beach parties are illegal and bikinis should be banned are also contributing to fears the Goan party could be over.

“I think it affects Westerners’ thinking. They want to be free to enjoy their holiday,” said Sultan.

At nearby Anjuna beach, where British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling died in 2008, sari-clad women who ply its sands selling trinkets to visitors worry

that India’s reputation as a destination that is dangerous for women is having an impact.

“I think the news stories about Scarlett have made people not come. Maybe they are worried,” 39-yearold Monica Tipi told AFP before eyeing a sale from an Indian couple.

The acquittal last month of two local men accused of drugging, sexually assaulting and then leaving 15-year-old Keeling to drown in shallow water was the culmination of a case that had highlighted Goa’s seedier side.

Several high-profile sexual assaults against women across India, including the fatal gang-rape of a student in Delhi in 2012, has shone

620 million children in India, South Asia breathing toxic air: Unicef New Delhi As Delhi woke up on Monday to smoke-filled skies from a weekend of festival fireworks, the capital’s worst season for

more than six times higher that standards set by the World Health Organization, including 220 million in South Asia.

For the Indian capital, the

air pollution began - with dire consequences.

A new report from Unicef said most of the 2 billion children in the world who are breathing toxic air live in northern India and neighbouring countries, risking serious health effects including damage to their lungs, brains and other organs. Of that global total, 300 million kids are exposed to pollution levels

alarming numbers are hardly a surprise. New Delhi’s air pollution, among the world’s worst, spikes every winter because of the season’s weak winds and countless garbage fires set alight to help people stay warm.

Even days before the city erupted in annual fireworks celebrations for the Hindu holiday of Diwali, recorded levels of tiny, lung-clogging

particulate matter known as PM 2.5 on Friday were considered dangerous at well above 300 micrograms per cubic metre. By Monday morning, the city was recording PM 2.5 levels above 900 mcg per cubic metre — more than 90 times higher than the WHO recommendation of no more than 10 mcg per cubic metre. Children face much higher health risks from air pollution than adults. Children breathe twice as quickly, taking in more air in relation to their body weight, while their brains and immune systems are still developing and vulnerable.

“The impact is commensurately shocking,” with 600,000 children younger than 5 across the world dying every year from air pollution-related diseases, Unicef executive director Anthony Lake said in the report released on Monday.

“Millions more suffer from respiratory diseases that diminish their resilience and affect their physical and cognitive development.

a global spotlight on frightening levels of violence against women in the country.

“The news stories haven’t put us off. We feel safe but we wouldn’t travel on our own. We always stick together,” 26-year-old Australian Chloe Cato, who’s travelling round India with a friend, told AFP at Anjuna.

Britain’s government warns in its travel advice for India that British women have been sexually assaulted in Goa and says a number of its nationals die in the state every year due to drug or alcohol abuse.

Goa-based lawyer Vikram Varma, who acted for Keeling’s mother and who also represents the Russian consulate, says police have failed to investigate the deaths of several foreigners over the last decade or so.

“Crime does happen everywhere, but when the criminal justice system itself prefers to blame the victim and protect the criminals, a large number of family tourists prefer to holiday in safer environments,” he told AFP. The number of Russian tourists visiting Goa

plummeted from 120,000 in 2013 to just 40,000 in 2014 but is predicted to bounce back to around 100,000 this season due to Moscow declaring Egypt and Turkey unsafe for its citizens, according to Varma.

They may choose to visit the casinos that line the river running through the state capital Panaji or take a ride on a new amphibious tourist boat. Helicopter rides and trips on seaplanes are also being launched.

“The kind of tourists coming to Goa has been changing... We are targeting the more high-end tourist,” said Messias, adding that the state’s character will evolve as a result.

“Some sections of the industry are very happy about this change but some are not.”

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Ode to cliches

Himalayan blunder Shivaay Cast: Ajay Devgn, Sayyeshaa Saigal, Erika Kaar, Abigail Eames, Vir Das, Girish Karnad, Saurabh Shukla Direction: Ajay Devgn

ONE thing becomes clear, as Ajay Devgn’s spectacular load of boredom unfolds: The man is a brilliant actor, he should stick to acting. After U Me Aur Hum, Shivaay only underlines an awful truth. Ajay Devgn cannot direct.

Devgn’s latest is the most baffling piece coming out of Bollywood in a while. The film does not seem to know its purpose. It struggles to deliver an intended cocktail of thrills and melodrama but constantly slips in and out of control. The deal here is all about obsolete stunts and family soaplevel emotional outbursts.

Amid visually stunning frames that must have accounted for the film’s lavish budget, Shivaay works on a broad idea that seems straight out of the Hollywood hit Taken. To Devgn’s credit, though, he has merely picked bare minimum inspiration. Overall, Shivaay is an original piece.

Perhaps it would have helped if Devgn was less original. Going by his track record he does not

seem too imaginative a filmmaker. Shivaay reels under clichés as Devgn’s self-scripted saga unfolds a story that would perhaps have seemed jaded even a decade back. The film is a no-hoper right from the word go.

Ajay Devgn plays mountaineer Shivaay who takes tourists on treks in the Himalayas. As he falls for firangi beauty Olga (Erika Kaar), you realise there is zero chemistry at work. A good portion of the first half is wasted in building up the romance before Olga leaves for her home in Bulgaria, after having delivered Shivaay’s baby girl. The film takes almost half of its nearly-three hour runtime to arrive at the real kickstart point of its story. The girl (Abigail Eames), now nearly nine, insists she wants to see her mother. In a twist of events, soon after they arrive in Sofia, she is kidnapped by child traffickers.

Shivaay must now morph into a one-man army to save her.

Despite an emotional core, Shivaay fails to connect. The film is done in by shoddy writing and near non-existent direction.

Assorted characters go through sketchy formality to function from shadows of the shiny Ajay Devgn showcase. It’s all shine and no substance. Shivaay ends up a Himalayan blunder.

— Vinayak Chakravorty

THE pre-release drama had more masala. As Ash woos Ranbir with the blue pools of her gaze, Bollywood mush gets an all-new designer twist of the gorgeous. Still, the impact would seem to pale before the fire MNS unleashed with their ban bawl till only a week ago. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is all fine, but the real filmi limelight moth this Diwali, you realise, has been Raj Thackeray.

K.Jo might as well take a few tips from the MNS honcho on how whip up bigtime drama. In form, content, visuals and characters, Johar’s latest unleashes déjà vu.

The film is a lush rerun of more or less everything that has come to define the Karan Johar movie.

Perhaps K.Jo never had an intention of pushing limits on standard Bollywood romantic drama. Notable here is Johar makes it work, if you dig that sort of a thing. Familiar as Ae Dil... is, the film remains a resplendent treat for mush lovers. If the name of the game for Hindi mainstream directors is to repackage the

Out on DVD Waiting Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki Koechlin, Rajat Kapoor Direction: Anu Menon ANU Menon’s debut feature film as a director is a bittersweet drama that credibly brings to focus the pangs of relatives of those who are hospitalised with ailment. The story is about two complete strangers who meet in a hospital waiting hall where their respective spouses are admitted as patients. Tara’s (Kalki Koechlin) husband Rajat (Arjun Mathur) is in hospital after being gravely injured in an accident while the elderly professor Shiv (Naseeruddin Shah) is there because of his comatose wife

Vinayak Chakravorty

By

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Cast: Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Fawad Khan Direction: Karan Johar

hackneyed in a zillion fresh ways, very few in the industry do it with the aplomb of K.Jo. In classic Bollywood tradition too, the script penned by Johar takes more time than it should to narrate its abundantly soppy tale, thereby accounting for the film’s 155minute-odd runtime. Moreover, although the writer-filmmaker has not plagiarised from any single source, his new film could bring flashes of the 2004 Hollywood hit Closer in the odd mushy scene it sets up. The track that Ranbir and Aishwarya share, as a man romancing an older

woman, could also give you bouts of recall if you have watched Ramesh Talwar ’s 1977 film, Doosra Aadmi. Ae Dil..., however, tells a very different story from these films. A mawkish maze is born after Ayan (Ranbir) and Alizeh (Anushka Sharma) fall in love, when the latter’s troublesome exlover Ali (Fawad Khan) returns in her life. A dejected Ayan finds solace in Sabah (Aishwarya).

However, he soon realises his love for Alizeh is too strong to let him accept Sabah wholeheartedly. Although Johar stubbornly retains all the clichés that define his brand of romance, his filmmaking is admittedly getting mature with every new release. He scores with packaging and elicits a brilliant act out of Ranbir. Indeed, the actor shares scorching chemistry with both heroines. Fawad Khan shines in his cameo. Oh yes, there is SRK too, in his by-now well-publicised guest role. Doing what? Mouthing the most effervescent dialogue of the film.

(Suhasini). The drama builds up through the bond that Shiv and Tara develop over a period of time, waiting for their spouses to respond to treatment. Waiting is a sensitive human drama that, for a debutant’s effort, tackles its storyline impressively. The roles are well acted out.

Great Grand Masti Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Direction: Indra Kumar THE third film is the Masti series brings back the trademark politically incorrect slapstick formula in a bid to set up a horror spoof. The idea would perhaps have worked with some imagination and more intelligent writing. This time, the film’s three

bumbling heroes Meet, Amar and Prem (Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani) land in Amar’s palatial ancestral village home. Here, they do not realise the sexy village belle they are chasing is actually a ghost. Great Grand Masti shows no intention of being a clever horror spoof. It simply piles up a bag of dirty jokes.

— Vinayak Chakravorty

Issue 691 (16)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Lisa Haydon gets married to boyfriend Dino Lalvani Breaking hearts of many fans, actor Lisa Haydon gets hitched to her long time boyfriend Dino Lalvani.

She took to her Instagram account to share the happy news, where she is seen ‘walking to forever’. Lisa looks stunning in a white gown and a head-gear in what seems to be a beach wedding.

Just after a month of her wedding announcement, the 30-year old actor has tied the knot with her beau Dino Lalvani, after dating for an year. Dino is the son of Pakistanborn British entrepreneur Gullu Lalvani.

On a related note, the Housefull 3 actor was recently seen in Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil as Ranbir Kapoor’s girlfriend. She will soon be seen in a Television series called The Trip.

Okay for celebrities to have bad hair days: Athiya Shetty Celebrities are always under scrutiny for their fashion sense, but Bollywood actress Athiya Shetty says it is not important for an actor to look good always.

Asked if looking good always is important for actors, Athiya said, “No. We are human beings, and it’s okay if we have a bad hair day or bad day in general. I think people should know that it takes a lot of effort to look the way we do in front of the camera, and it is not hunky-dory always.”

Athiya, who was here earlier this month for the Amazon India Fashion Week, feels that actors do

get judged a lot on the basis of fashion. “But it depends on how seriously you take it. If you are (in)

something that you are comfortable in, and you like it, then that’s all that matters. It’s how you carry your clothes and how comfortable you are in your skin,” she said. The actor, who ventured into Bollywood in 2015 with superstar Salman Khan’s production Hero, is currently busy shooting for her next film titled Mubarakan.

The film is slated to release in July, next year and also stars Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, and Ileana D’Cruz.

John Abraham to file a special petition to recognise unsung army heroes Most B-town stars will be celebrating Diwali with their family and close ones, but actor John Abraham plans to file a petition to recognise the efforts and dedication of the Indian Army and the jawans fighting at India’s borders.

Addressing the army, John said in a text message, “My hearty greetings to the Indian Army. You are the real heroes for us. While we will be celebrating the festival of lights with our loved ones, these heroes won’t even get a chance to meet and greet their families this festive season.

We as a nation are indebted to you. Thank you for your courage, patriotism and selflessness to make sure we all sleep

peacefully in our homes.

Jai Hind!” source adds that the actor will also be visiting Amar Jawan Jyoti in New Delhi next month to pay his respects to martyrs. He also wants to raise awareness about soldiers whose efforts haven’t been recognised as well as the army’s contribution. “John will be launching a petition addressing the government. The petition aims to have the names of these unsung heroes get the recognition they deserve,” the source.

The actor was last seen in Dishoom co-starring Varun Dhawan and Jacqueline Fernandez. He will next be seen in Force 2 along with Sonakshi Sinha.

Right now, I am suppor ting Alia, Shraddha and I have very different supporting personalities: Parineeti Chopra myself with my production company: Salman Khan Superstar Salman Khan says he will support independent movies and filmmakers with his production banner if he likes the subject, but for now he is supporting himself.

Salman came out with his own production banner Salman Khan Films in 2014, and coproduced Dr Cabbie. He also backed his project Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Hero. The actor is now producing his third collaboration with director Kabir Khan in Tubelight.

Asked if he will ever support independent filmmakers, Salman told IANS: “I’m supporting myself right now.”

“If I really like something, like how we liked Chillar Party, then I will take over the film,” he added.

The superstar, who is busy with Tubelight, compared picking a new project like boarding a moving train.

“I will board a moving train provided the train is good, comfortable and fast.”

After making an

impressive mark on the box office with Sultan this year, the actor is seen on the small screen as a host of reality TV show Bigg Boss 10, which is aired on Colors channel.

Parineeti Chopra feels there’s little competition between Alia Bhatt, Shraddha Kapoor and her, despite the three being peers. She says, “There are more films being made than the number of actors in the industry. From the biggest stars to the newest people, there are about 20-30 actors, but over 160 movies are being made every year.” She explains that while the same set of people try for a lot of films, the industry has a lot of actors.

Parineeti adds, “Alia, Shraddha and I are very different when it comes to our personalities and our work, so directors consider us for different roles. The important thing is to remain in a position that’s good enough to be offered good movies.”

She also credits their friendship for eliminating competitive feelings. “We don’t think

like that. In fact, we often talk about our films and what we’re doing. It’s an encouraging, friendly and positive relationship. It’s similar to what VD (Varun Dhawan), Arjun (Kapoor) and Sid (Sidharth Malhotra) share. We talk about films and the kind of movies we should do,” she says.

Issue 691 (17)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Angelina Jolie questioned for four hours by FBI Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for four hours over her estranged husband and actor Brad Pitt’s private plane incident.

Pitt is alleged to have gotten “verbally abusive” and “physical” with their son Maddox, 15, while under the influence of alcohol during a flight on September 14 and Jolie filed for divorce just days later.

After an anonymous source reported the alleged incident, the FBI got involved as they have jurisdiction because the incident occurred in mid-

air.

“The agents wanted a breakdown of everything that happened from when the plane took off to when it landed. Angelina fully cooperated,” a source told US Magazine.

The source added that the FBI “will likely investigate for another few weeks”.

After that they “will present the case to the prosecutor, who will evaluate whether they feel the need to bring charges.

It could potentially be months”.

Yet both Pitt and Jolie are eager to avoid a court case, with the source explaining: “Neither side wants this to go to court because everything the

What’s brewing? Material Girl Madonna seen getting cosy with Idris Elba

Pop icon Madonna was spotted kissing actor Idris Elba in London. According to The Sun newspaper, the 44-year-old actor and the 58-year-old Material girl singer were spotted indulging in a number of smooches at London’s M Restaurant - after he took part in his first boxing match for new TV show Idris Elba: Fighter on Friday, reports dailymail.co.uk.

They arrived at the after party separately but were inseparable once inside. “There was nothing subtle about it, no attempt to hide. It was very blatant.

They were at the party for about an hour, they would dance, go off to smooch, then mingle a bit more.

They only had eyes for each other. That seemed very clear,” a source told the Sun.

Gerard Butler falls for the third time in Olympus sequel Angel Has Fallen

FBI and DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) investigated will potentially be made available to the public, which would be bad for the entire family.” It was later reported that “Maddox suffered no injuries and some witnesses on the jet say Brad’s contact with the boy was inadvertent”.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that DCFS have extended their investigation into Pitt.

The 40-year-old Spanish model-actor, who wed the Thor star in 2010, says she was initially attracted

focus on attackers trying to take down Butler’s character and will be written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt.

London Has Fallen was directed by Babak Najafi and written by Rothenberger, Benedikt, Chad St. John and Christian Gudegast.

Butler will next be seen in in the upcoming sci-fi thriller Geostorm in 2017.

It’s a beautiful religion. I am incredibly proud: Tom Cruise on Scientology Hollywood star Tom Cruise says Scientology has helped him in achieving his goals in life. The 54-yearold actor, who rarely speaks about his belief in the religious practice, said he is proud of being a follower, reported Female First. “It’s something that has helped me incredibly in my life; I’ve been a Scientologist for over 30 years. It’s something, you know, without it, I wouldn’t be where I am. So it’s a beautiful religion. I’m incredibly proud,” Cruise said. The actor said the methods developed under the religion have helped him overcome his dyslexia.

“I asked myself if I was

So what attracted Chris Hemsworth’s wife to him after all?

Actor Chris Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky says she fell in love with him when she first heard his voice.

The two and their children — Maddox, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and eight-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne — have all been previously interviewed. The DCFS has now expanded its investigation to other alleged incidents.

Jolie and Pitt have agreed on a parenting plan, giving her temporary physical custody over the children with Pitt allowed to visit them under the supervision of a therapist.

Actor Gerard Butler will return as Secret Service agent Mike Banning in Angel Has Fallen — the third film in the Fallen franchise comprising of Olympus Has Fallen and its sequel London Has Fallen. Millennium Films, the production banner backing the project, is planning to begin production on the film in the first half of 2017, reports variety.com.

No director has been attached to the project.

Olympus Has Fallen, directed by Antoine Fuqua, grossed $160 million at the worldwide box office in 2013. This year’s London Has Fallen collected more than $195 million globally.

Angel Has Fallen will

to her future husband’s deep tones during a phone call that took place before they had ever met, reported Female First.

Remembering what caught her attention about the 33year-old Aussie actor, she said, “His voice is amazing! Before I met him, I heard his voice on the phone and that was what I loved. He was probably making it even deeper. He also has an amazing body, which I think is sexy.”

Pondering what hooked him on her, Elsa admitted it was probably her forthright attitude and “confidence”.

normal or an idiot.I would try to concentrate but I felt

anxiety, frustration, boredom. When I graduated

from high school in 1980 I was functionally illiterate.

Cruise was first introduced to the church by his first wife Mimi Rogers, whom he was married to from 1987 until 1990, while he was still trying to make it as a global star. The actor is one of the highestranking Scientologists and has been hailed by leaders of the faith as the “chosen one” who will spread the word of the religion.

After months of evasion, Fassbender acknowledges Alicia Vikander romance

Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander’s rumoured romance has been keeping gossip mongers busy for months, and now, it seems as if Fassbender has finally acknowledged it. The real-life couple met while playing on-screen spouses in The Light Between Oceans, but according to the 39-year-old actor, they did not plan on falling in love, reported People magazine. When asked if is it hard for him when everyone asks him about

Vikander, Fassbender said, “It’s not really difficult. I just answer what I choose to answer and don’t answer other things.” “It just happened. It’s good that it happened. It is what it is.”The couple made their awards-show debut as at the Golden Globes in January. Fassbender previously said he does not feel any obligation to talk about his love life. “I’m not going to talk about my private life with a total stranger, unless I feel like I need to. Why would I? I don’t.”

Issue 691 (18)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Americans need to connect with their Sikh neighbours, Waris Ahluwalia says Any of the things that have happened to Waris Ahluwalia seem like serendipity he was wearing rings he designed when a buyer in a Los Angeles boutique noticed, launching his design career and his House of Waris. He met director Wes Anderson at a peace rally and has since acted in over a dozen films. And now, he’s got a day in his honour New York mayor Bill de Blasio just declared October 19 Waris Ahluwalia Day. While it may seem like chance, Ahluwalia, 42, has worked for what matters to him. He’s spoken against racial attacks on Sikhs in the US after 9/11. In February, he made headlines after he was denied boarding on an Aeromexico flight as he refused to remove his turban. The airline later apologized and got him from Mexico City to New York in time for his showing at the fashion week. Shalini Umachandran talks to the outspoken Sikh.

How does a boy from Brooklyn the child of a Punjabi professor and a schoolteacher who migrated from Amritsar when he was five years old

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get to have a day named after him?

It’s something I am still trying to figure out. This is where my Indian roots come out and I say it was always written this way. I’m just following a path that I can’t even see.

You’ve been mistaken for a Muslim and attacked, and have since been very vocal about hate crimes. When did you realise that you could use the attacks to raise awareness?

A terrible thing happened to humanity and to NY our city was attacked and innocent lives were lost. But then, something

peculiar happened. I remember the months following 9/11 people would glare at me with anger and hate as I walked down the street here in New York. My own city, my home. Six months after that terrible day I was assaulted and nearly lost vision in my right eye. The oldest and strongest emotion known to mankind is fear. The hate and anger I experienced is one of its ugliest byproducts fear of the ‘other’. When I was punched in the face I could have let fear get the better of me. But then I would have truly lost. So instead I decided to fight the fear and to do so with love, understanding, and education.

There seems to be a lot of activity to raise awareness about Sikh culture in New York City your efforts, Turban Day, The Sikh Project photo show... Are hate crimes against Sikhs on the rise?

Hate crimes have always existed in the US. So many communities are affected, not just Sikh, as clearly evidenced by the growing and necessary Black Lives Matter campaign. The federal government has only recently started tracking hate crimes against Sikhs and the reporting is optional.

All the advocacy being done has a simple purpose connect Americans with their Sikh neighbours. Even after more than 130

years of being a part of the American fabric, we are still a relatively unknown community and all these efforts are an attempt to humanize a community and make connections. Certainly hate crimes have increased over the past 15 years, and they are surging again over the past 12 months. However, for the most part, Sikhs experience justice and prosperity in America, but it is true that racism exists here, as it does everywhere, and we are working with our communities to combat that. It’s a long-term and never-ending process.

You’ve said you reconnected with India in your 30s. What did you find here that struck a chord?

I went to India many times in my youth with my mother and father. Yet it was only when I started going on my own that India really became a part of my life. I started interacting with people outside my family.

I started making things in India. I found passion in India, people committed to craft. It is that love for tradition in a society breaking free from its past that pulls me back every time.

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1 - 7 Nov., 2016

‘Don’t feel safe’: US gun store says won’t arm Muslims, Clinton supporters

New York A US gun store owner has put up a controversial sign and published an advertisement in a daily, refusing to sell arms to Muslims and Hillary Clinton supporters. The ad said, “We do not feel safe selling to terrorists.”

Paul Chandler, the owner of Altra Firearms in rural Jackson Center, Pennsylvania, said he turns customers away at his door who are Muslims or those who support Hillary Clinton for president.

The 54-year-old business owner has posted a sign on the door of Altra Firearms conveying those rules, and he is currently running an advertisement in a local newspaper declaring: “Please NO Muslims or Hillary

Supporters? We do not feel safe selling to terrorists!.”

Chandler told ThinkProgress that, as the owner of a store that brands itself as “politically incorrect firearms”, he is free to turn Democrats and Muslims away.

“She’s clearly stated that she doesn’t think Americans should have what she calls ‘assault weapons’ or even guns themselves,” he said about Clinton.

The Democratic nominee, however, has said she believes in people’s right to keep and bear arms, and will not abolish the Second Amendment.

“It’s incrementalism. She will take one gun away and then she’ll take the next gun and the

next gun until finally there’s no guns. So if you’re supporting her, I’m not going to arm you,” Chandler was quoted as saying.

The stance is not new for him as Chandler said he has had a sign on his door, telling supporters of President Barack Obama to “go to hell” and that he has never been comfortable selling firearms to Muslims.

“They want to destroy America, they want to destroy the American way of life,” he said.

“And so we’re putting more and more Muslims...here, and I don’t feel safe arming them,” he added.

As for Obama and Clinton supporters, Chandler said they have clearly stated they “want to take guns out of the hands of people, and if they don’t want guns in the hands of people, I’m helping them not to be a hypocrite”.

The US Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion at public accommodations, although it is unclear if a gun store qualifies.

In 2015, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sued a different store in Florida which declared itself a ‘Muslim Free Zone’.

Muslim woman sues US firm after being ‘rejected employment due to hijab’ CHICAGO A Muslim woman has sued a security company in the US for discrimination, alleging that the firm rejected her for employment because of her faith and her hijab.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of ZahraaImani Ali, from St L o u i s C o u n t y, Missouri, alleging that a nationwide security firm discriminated against prospective Muslim employees.

Securitas Security Services refused to hire Ali, “at least in part, but likely entirely, on the fact that Ms Ali wears the hijab as part of her adherence to the Islamic faith,” lawyer Robert West was quoted as saying by St. Louis PostDispatch.

The suit, filed on October 21, seeks monetary damages, costs and attorneys’ fees and seeks class-action status to represent other applicants.

The lawsuit said that Ali, a former correctional officer, applied for a job with Securitas in September 2015. During a phone screening

that October, she asked whether wearing a hijab would be an issue, the suit said.

The “recruitment specialist” said that there should not be a problem, but in a series of emails, a regional compliance manager recommended that the specialist “side step” and “pass on” Ali, according to the suit.

“The mainstreaming of Islamophobia has made it much harder for American Muslims to gain employment because of religious discrimination,” Faizan Syed, executive director of the council’s Missouri chapter, said in a statement.

“We hope this lawsuit will send a clear message to all employers to follow the law and not engage in discriminatory hiring practices,” he said.

US woman’s lottery lesson to husband backfires, wins her $1 million NEW YORK A 57-year-old woman in the US, who wanted to prove to her husband that playing lottery was a waste of money, has won a $1 million on a lottery ticket.

Glenda Blackwell of Leicester in North Carolina bought a $10 scratch-off ticket on Saturday to teach her husband, who had asked her to purchase twoPowerball tickets, a lesson about wasting money on the lottery.

“I was going to be ugly and buy a scratch off to show him they didn’t hit. Sometimes I get aggravated with him, so I tell him, ‘You’re just wasting your money’,” Blackwell said.

“I had to eat my words, but they were worth eating,” she was quoted as saying by WLOS.

Blackwell said she was in total disbelief until she received a blown-up check bearing the seven-figure sum on Monday.

“We’ve struggled a lot, so now we can buy our own home and our own land. It’ll be paid for and I don’t have to worry about that no more,” she said.

“So, that’s what I plan to do with some of the money and the other part I plan to help my daughter and to put money up for my two granddaughters for college,” she added.

Blackwell chose the lump sum of $415,503 after taxes instead of 20 yearly payments of $50,000 as she is not sure if she will live that long due to health issues.

The couple said they would not scratch many lottery tickets in the future.

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0,675(66(6 FEMALE partners, handsome money and expensive gifts: these were the tools used by a ring of Pakistani spies to lure Indian defence personnel and extract sensitive details about deployment of forces. The multiple ISI modules running across the country have their headquarters inside the safe confines of the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi. The

spies had created a fake profile in the name of Damini McNaught, who claimed to be an executive of a UKbased media firm. McNaught claimed that she required IAFrelated information for an article she was writing for a news magazine. The role of several defence and BSF personnel is under the scanner over suspicions of having leaked sensitive

said. Akhtar was strategically posted at the visa department of the high commission so that he could cultivate possible recruits.

The two women and those arrested from Rajasthan came in touch with Akhtar when they approached the Pakistan embassy for visa. His main job was to spread his tentacles in Gujarat and Rajasthan. “Akhtar was an

revelations emerged after the Delhi Police crime branch detained a Pakistan embassy staffer identified as Mehmood Akhtar and arrested two Rajasthan residents over allegations of spying and stealing defence-related documents. Crime branch sleuths are also probing the role of two Delhi-based women, who were “too friendly” with Akhtar. Officials are trying to establish if they were used to gather defence-related classified information.Akhtar was declared “persona nongrata” for espionage activities and asked to leave India. But, Pakistan cried foul, saying Akhtar was not involved in any espionage activity.

However, cops have recovered sensitive documents from Akhtar’s possession including a fake Aadhaar card. According to a senior police officer, ISI operatives were using women to lay honey traps for defence personnel. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) and crime branch are now scanning the operations of directorate of defence forces and paramilitary forces as they are the ones who handle sensitive information about exact deployment and movement of soldiers across the frontiers. Even in the past, the ISI has used honey traps to lure Indian officers. In December last year, Indian Air Force (IAF) officer Ranjith KK was arrested from Punjab’s Bathinda city as he allegedly passed on secret information to a honey trap set by the Pakistani agency. The

documents to the two arrested men, Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir, both residents of Nagaur in Rajasthan. Shoaib, a Jodhpur-based passport agent allegedly involved in the espionage racket, was detained near his home town this evening, police

important asset of the ISI as he was a havildar in the 40 Baluch Regiment of the Pakistan army. He was recruited and trained by the ISI three years ago,” said an officer.

Akhtar trapped poor and needy people to work for the ISI by promising them money and easy

access in Pakistan. The Indians were deployed to gather secret information about the movement of Indian forces. Akhtar would meet the spies at some public place once a month and pay them a minimum of Rs 30,000 for each piece of information. A senior officer said they have found the involvement of at least 10 other staffers of the embassy, but since they have not been caught redhanded criminal action against them have not been initiated. But the ministry of external affairs has been informed about the conduct of the other people. “Technical surveillance and physical shadowing was used for several months to track Akhtar ’s movements. Though he had been cultivating sources for a long time and meeting them at public places in Delhi this was the only second time that he was exchanging bundles of documents near Delhi zoo,” said Delhi Police officials.

On being arrested, Akhtar said he was an Indian citizen and showed an Aadhaar card bearing a Chandni Chowk address. When probed further, he claimed he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

Police then contacted the foreign ministry and Pakistani officials identified him. Cops found information related to the deployment of the Indian Army and BSF in border areas. Akhtar had maps of BSF movement in his possession. He also had visa papers and money transfer documents.

63< 86(' 9,3 6 72 *$,1 $&&( Sohaib, arrested from Jodhpur for supplying secrets to Pak, posted photos with netas on Facebook to peddle influence SOHAIB Nagaur was a bit of a social butter- fly and social media regular. After police arrested the visa agent from Rajasthan for allegedly passing on Indian military secrets to Pakistan, officers found a slew of photographs he posted on Facebook where he shares the frame with top politi- cians, including Uni- on ministers Manoh- ar Parrikar and Harsh Vardhan as well as BJP MP Udit Raj. The authenticity of the pictures is yet to be e s t a b l i s h e d . The development comes days after the Centre expelled a Pakistani diplomat based in Delhi who allegedly ran a spy ring that collected sensitive information about Indian security operations along the border. The arrests of Sohaib and Farhat, the former personal assistant of Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Munabbar Saleem, has raised concerns as both were close to the corridors of power. Cops have found that they used their perceived political clout to get access to important places and sensitive documents. Saleem sacked Farhat who was held for supplying secret papers to Pakistan high commission official Mehmood Akhtar. Akhtar has since returned to his home country after India declared him persona non grata. Sources say Sohaib had years of experience in procuring Pakistani visas for people in Rajasthan due to which he came in touch with ISI sleuths at

the Pakistan embassy espionage. Apart from he claimed to be an a party’s minority wing Police’s crime bra photographs and is als authenticity apart from t with people in powe Rajasthan. “It cannot b might have used his con to important locations. pictures with senior lea when and where he met case told Mail Today. questioning of Akhtar wh officer said Farhat too “important documents” shipping ministries for a used to charge Rs 2 la reports of several mini public,” the officer said ISI through a Pakistan h in 1998 when he went

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y in Delhi and eventually turned to posting pictures with BJP leaders, active member of the g in Rajasthan. Delhi anch extracted the so trying to verify their trying to probe his links er at the Centre and be denied that Sohaib nnections to get access . We have got several aders and are verifying et them,” a senior officer connected to the Farhat’s name cropped up during the who was detained on October 27. A senior o was well connected and had given ” related to external affairs, defence and almost two and half years to Akhtar. “He akh for the job. He has provided annual istries in advance before they became d. Farhat first came into contact with the high commission official codenamed “NK” t to the embassy for visa. NK cultivated

Akhtar has also revealed names of 10 Pakistan intelligence officers working out of the national Capital. He used to travel in a Pakistan High Commission car (reg. no. 89CD105) to meet his contacts in public places including the Delhi Zoo from where he was nabbed. The car belongs to the trade counsellor at the Pakistan High

Commission.

Further investigation revealed that Akhtar Joined ISI in February 2013 and was trained in spycraft at the ISI HQ in Rawalpandi. He told investigators that he was in touch with several Indians including an ISRO employee who later broke contact. He was also in contact with a barber in Jat Regiment.

9,6$ 5287( 72 63< *$0(6 him and asked him to provide annual reports of the science and technology, water resources and civil aviation ministries. NK died in 2000 but before that Farhat was handed over to a certain “Rana Sagheer”, who later introduced him to “IP Shamshed”. He was given specific amounts of money per meeting for handing over documents. Saleem said Farhat was appointed his PA after due verification by three different agencies including the Delhi Police.

“When Farhat approached me a year ago, I had sent communications to Parliament and the government for verification.

I would like to say that the police and other agencies which gave him a clean chit should be held accountable,” said Saleem.

NAGAUR’S job was to introduce people willing to go to Pakistan and in need of money to Akhtar.

The High Commission staffer used to lure them with money and their job was to extract information about the Indian Army and BSF installations along the Rajasthan and Gujarat border.

Nagaur had formed a well-knit group of seven to eight spies excluding Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir on the direction of Akhtar. All of them were on the payroll of Akhtar, the officer said.

Nagaur was tasked to give

details of Army and BSF deployment on the Gujarat and Rajasthan border besides recruiting spies.

The investigators are tying to find out why Nagaur visited Pakistan in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2012. “He has visited Pakistan around half a dozen times. He said his mother and maternal uncle lived there. He may have met ISI agents during his visits.

He is the third generation in his family, who is working as Pakistan Visa agent,” said an officer.

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1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Drones may carry out India’s future surgical strikes After using Special Forces troops to attack and destroy terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India is now planning to add combat drones to its fleet which can do the same job without risking soldiers’ lives. The Indian Air Force is working to upgrade and equip its fleet of Israelimade Searcher and Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with missiles under a top secret and classified programme codenamed ‘Project Cheetah’.

For the ambitious plan, which is expected to cost almost more than Rs 10,000 crores, the Air Force is looking to join hands with the Israel defence major Israeli Aircraft Industry (IAI).

“Under the project, we are planning to equip our Searchers and Herons with advance snooping capabilities and missiles which can target terrorists and their hideouts both within India and if required, across the borders,” a senior IAF source told MAIL TODAY. Former IAF vice chief air marshal RK Sharma said ideally when the UAVs can see targets with their surveillance and snooping payloads, they should also have the capability to strike rather than having to deploy other aircraft or assets to do that job.

“If you have such a capability in form of drones, you can take down terrorist targets both within and across the borders,” the former vice chief stated. With such a capability in its fold, in future scenario if the Army units

inform about any particular launch pad of terrorists getting active, the IAF can deploy its armed drones to unleash a silent punishment to terrorists from 30,000 feet over the ground. After silently hovering over PoK over suspected launch pads for some time gathering accurate intelligence the drones can launch an attack and return to the base causing greater damage than what the troops can do. “The precision guided missiles would also help in specific elimination of desired targets and there would be none or minimum collateral damage in such operations,” the IAF officer explained. Officers said the drones can also be put to use in case a terrorist hideout is located in higher reaches in Kashmir where missiles can be safely fired to destroy them without any fear of causing any injury to the civilians. For turning their surveillances drones into killer vehicles, the IAF has taken

a cue from the United States. For the Americans, drones are the weapons of choice for taking out terrorist leaders or destroying their safe houses. The Americans regularly smoke out terrorists using their MQ-1 Predators and GlobalHawk as it has killed several more than 2,500 terrorist leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan alone during its war on terror in these countries. India, so far, has not

used air power in anti-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir or Northeast to take out terrorists as a policy to not to be seen being too tough within own areas. India recently used helicopter gunships to eliminate terrorists who had entered the Pathankot air base but that was within a military station and not in civilian locality. Unlike India, Pakistan uses its American AH1 Cobra gunships extensively

EXISTING FLEET The Army, Air Force and Navy together operate a fleet of over 200 Israeli-made SearcherII and Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, which are deployed on both eastern front with China and western front with Pakistan.

The Army was the first to induct UAVs in the ‘90s starting with Searcher Mark I

and Searcher Mark II, which could operate at an altitude of 15,000 feet, and the Heron, which could operate at 30,000 feet. The Army uses these drones to keep an eye on movement of the Chinese forces in Ladakh – in places where physical patrolling is difficult.

The incursion by Chinese troops during the face-off in Chumar

area was detected by UAVs and then confirmed by physical inspection by pilots.

The IAF followed the army and acquired the Searcher Mark I, Searcher Mark II and the Heron UAVs. The Navy also has three operational squadrons of UAVs deployed along eastern and western sea board.

against even suspected civilians as can be seen in its Operation Zarb-e-Azb in Taliban and Baloch areas within its own country. At the moment, the IAF flies the Israeli-made Searcher II and Heron UAVs for reconnaissance and snooping purposes. “With the upgrade in snooping capabilities, the forces on ground would also be able to get pin-point intelligence about hideouts in areas where men have to be involved in operations,” an IAF source revealed. The upgrades would also enable the IAF ground station handlers to operate these aircraft from far-off distances and control them through satellite communication system. The project has been in the works for quite some time and government is also thinking of involving Indian agencies, including the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, to use their expertise in the programme.

LeT takes credit for Uri attack

In a first-hand evidence of a Pakistan-based terror group carrying out last month’s Uri attack, Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) put up posters across Gujranwala town in Pakistan’s Punjab province claiming responsibility for the killing of 20 Indian soldiers and calling for the last rites of one of the four

terrorists who were killed in the attack. The posters announce that the LeT will be holding the last rites in absentia for Gujranwala resident Muhammad Anas, one of the four terrorists involved in the attack on an Army base in Uri in Kashmir and has asked local residents to join in.

The posters ask residents to pray

for the “lion-hearted holy warrior Abu Siraqa Muhammad Anas, who sent 177 Hindu soldiers to hell at the Uri Brigade camp in occupied Kashmir, and thus drank from the glass of martyrdom”. Hafiz Saeed, who heads the Jamaat-udDawa, which is the parent organisation of the LeT, figures prominently on the posters, along with other members of the terror organisation. The posters nail Pakistan’s denial that its nonstate actors were not behind the predawn attack on the Army camp last month, which triggered one of the worst India-Pakistan standoffs in recent years. The Uri attack was followed by the Indian Army’s surgical strikes, which dismantled at least seven terror launch pads and killed an unknown number of terrorists and

their sympathisers across the Line of Control. India has also been on the diplomatic offensive in its attempt to isolate Pakistan globally with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it a ‘mother ship of terror’ earlier this month.

India had even called off its participation in the SAARC summit that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in protest.

Other SAARC member states— Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan— had followed suit and refused to participate in the SAARC summit, forcing Pakistan to call it off. Modi had even flayed Pakistan at the BRICS-BIMSTEC summit in Goa, in which he found the backing of several countries. On the contrary, Pakistan, despite being isolated globally, continues to deny the activities

of terror groups on its soil.

When presented with evidence on the Uri attacks, Pakistan not only denied it, but its defence minister Khawaja Asif even suggested that it was an insider job. In retaliation, India threatened to scrap the Indus Water Treaty and contemplated giving refuge to Baloch activists.

The Uri attack did not spare the film industry as well, with fringe right-wing organisations calling for a ban on movies starring Pakistani actors and asking Pakistani actors to leave India for not denouncing the brazen attack. The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena even demanded that all Indian producers who have cast Pakistani actors in their movies should pay `5 crore towards the Army welfare fund.

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You become aware of your inner strength and energy levels this week.

Whether you are beginning something new and need inspiration or you have just finished something and want to rest and rejuvenate your energy, meditate and tap the source of life and nourishment within you. A professional opportunity that comes out of the blue is hard to resist as it promises name and gain. Physical strength and endurance enable you to indulge in busy schedules and competitive sport at this point. You must aim for the highest and not make compromises, as achievement of the highest degree is possible now.

You are physically active and indulge in sporty pastimes and busy schedules this week. You connect and communicate with interesting people and share new ideas that stimulate you intellectually.

Business opportunities for expansion are on the cards! Emotionally you are open and receptive to friends. Love and romance in relationships inspire you. You get a happy surprise that motivates and inspires you! Children bring joy and come up with original ideas. You get centered and silent within to function with optimum energy outside.

Certain happenings and revelations can throw you off balance to begin with but prove to be gainful in the long run. You are receptive in relationships and can make breakthroughs this week. Redecorating home and office spaces brings fresh ambience. Inner values, priorities and attitudes are transformed.

You modernize and streamline old systems and machinery for better production and quality. It’s best to face opposition and competition, as you are strong and forthright in any controversial aspect. A higher perspective is needed to understand mystical aspects of life.

It’s best to adopt a positive, flexible and accommodating attitude this week! A lot of fiery energy is generated, as work situations become more demanding and conflicts more obvious. You may draw flak and invite gossip because of your personal and professional associations and independent views. You demand individual space, rights and freedom in all areas of life, causing some strife from traditional people.

Wisdom lies in distancing yourself for some time from chaotic situations to gain a balanced perspective. Health needs attention.

You can expect some fame as you are seen, noted and heard this week.

You are blessed with good luck, happiness and success, which you are able to share with a soul mate or partner. You are likely to work, or do business, with people from overseas. You express creative ideas and plans. This is a time of endings and beginnings in relationships or friendships as values, priorities and attitudes change. Health and energy need to be conserved as you have too much to do this week Witnessing the drama of life from a higher viewpoint gives you fresh insight.

Mental clarity and perspective bring order in chaotic situations and relationships this week. You are intensely perceptive in professional ventures and don't miss any political games that go on. You can evaluate people and situations swiftly and accurately but need to act graciously. Balance in relationships and stability in professional ventures can be achieved at this point. Beware of a woman who interferes in personal matters.

Participate in current events and share views and feelings with people around you to feel part of the whole.

You are blessed with clarity and totality that is needed for making significant changes in personal and professional aspects this week. You can’t afford to procrastinate or sit on the fence as opportunities are slipping away. You tend to indulge in negative thinking and get yourself down. It’s time to say ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘I am not ready’ rather than ‘maybe’ when faced with decisions or choices. A celebration brings fresh perspective and encourages you to kick yourself out of this negative space and get on with your life. Personal relationships are loving and romantic.

You retain professional power and good health after a period of opposition and strife. You recover from illness or debility and regain strength. A personal victory puts an end to competition and rivalry. A romantic involvement flowers into commitment and marriage You tend to be a workaholic and it is time to look upon life as a mystery to be lived rather than a business to be managed. Take a break and relax as your work can flow more smoothly from a relaxed state of mind. The mind and heart may tug in different directions when decisions or choices have to be taken.

Karmic situations and patterns come to the fore and there is no more deception or illusion about personal and professional matters. You are able to face truths, deal with emotional choices or difficult situations to come out of them without being harmed in any way. You are likely to be surrounded by people who swing from one mood to another and act with false perceptions. End of the week light, joy and happiness dance into your life. Listen to your intuition and guard against over indulgence in food, drink or work. Old habits can be kicked now. Meditation and Yoga is therapeutic.

You make compromises to maintain peace and harmony at work and at home this week! However, you may have to deal with an inner conflict, as well as, face mental contradictions with another when you make personal choices and professional decisions. You opt to make compromises because there is love in the heart and goals are common. Strong stands; discussion and tension finally lead to better understanding and clarity. There is pleasure after pain when peace is restored. Relate with love and goodwill in personal relationships and be professional and clear in business matters.

Love and romance bring you to special moments and relationships in your life. Financial gain and success in business can also be expected. Enjoy the peak while it lasts but don't get attached or addicted to it as this too shall pass. Be ready to also enjoy and relax in the valley when that comes. Like the waves in the ocean you go through ups and downs in life, which are both to be experienced and celebrated. You express true feelings, ideas and plans without being afraid of consequences.

This is a good time to attempt difficult tasks and connect with unapproachable people.

You are enthused with divine wisdom and inspiration this week as you resolve difficult family problems and get past professional hurdles. You toil towards important goals with stubborn strength and endurance. You are persistent, loving and caring in personal relationships to make an impact on the one you love and admire. You learn an important lesson through an experience that touches and transforms you as you socialize this week. You organize finances and practical details to meet personal requirements and business targets. Your goodness of heart brings you peace inside and friendship outside.

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Technology Now, this method will help spot fake Facebook, Twitter posts New York Scientists have developed a new method for spotting people who post false reviews, comments or tweets from multiple social media accounts to espouse opinions. Researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in the US, describe a statistical method that analyses multiple writing samples - a practice known as ‘astroturfing’.

They found that it is challenging for authors to completely conceal their writing style in their text.

Based on word choice, punctuation and context, the method is able to detect whether one person or multiple people are responsible for the samples.

Researchers used writing samples from the most prolific online commentator on various news web sites, and discovered that many people espousing their

opinions online were actually all linked to a few singular writers with multiple accounts.

“Astroturfing is legal, but it is questionable ethically. As long as social media has been popular, this has existed,” said KimKwang Raymond Choo, associate professor at UTSA. The practice has been used by businesses to manipulate social media users or online shoppers, by having one paid associate post false reviews on web sites about products for sale.

It is also used on social media wherein astroturfers create

Now, order food, buy movie tickets through Facebook

New Delhi Facebook is now no more just a social-networking where one connects with friends or meet new people; it is beyond that now – a marketplace.

Keeping this in mind and its effort to connect users and businesses, the social-networkingsite has now allowed users to order food through Facebook pages of restaurants. The move will move into effect from Wednesday and only users in United States will

be able to order food through Facebook of now.

There are, however, no words as to when this facility would be extended to other parts of the world.

Users will also be able to get quotes from businesses, buy movie tickets and book appointments at spas and salons, Facebook said in a blog post. Earlier this month, Facebook launched “Marketplace”, a platform that allows people to buy and sell items locally.

several false accounts to espouse opinions, creating the illusion of a consensus when actually one person is pretending to be many.

“It can be used for any number of reasons.

Businesses can use this to encourage support for their products or services, or to sabotage other competing companies by spreading negative opinions through false identities,” Choo said.

Candidates for elected office have also been accused of astroturfing to create the illusion of public support for a cause or a campaign.

For example, US

President George W Bush, the Tea Party movement, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have all been accused of astroturfing to claim widespread enthusiasm for their platforms.

Now that Choo has the capability to detect one person pretending to be many online, he is considering further applications for his toptier research.

Stressing that astroturfing, while frowned upon, is not illegal, he is now looking into whether the algorithm can be used to prevent plagiarism and contract cheating.

“In addition to raising public awareness of the problem, we hope to develop tools to detect astroturfers so that social media users can make informed choices and resist online social manipulation and propaganda,” Choo said.

Access Facebook on your smartphone even without internet connection

New Delhi Facebook users in India have a reason to rejoice!

They can even access Facebook on their smartphone without any internet connection, and that too by just dialing *325#. It has been made possible by Facebook India ‘s partnership with Fonetwish. Fonetwish is an USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Data) based interactive service which connects devices without data connection.

You would be able to update your Facebook status for free, but for posting on a wall, checking notifications, adding friends, you

would be required to pay just Rs 1 per day for unlimited access. All one has to do is dial *325# from their mobile handset and enter their Facebook username and password, after which one can access Facebook features. The process uses USSD to transfer information from and to your mobile handset.

This service is currently available on limited number of network operators like Airtel, Aircel, Idea and Tata Docomo users in India, and is expected to be available on all the larger ones soon.

Parents, watch out if you are publishing posts about your kid on social media!

New York Parents, take note! What you share about your children on social media platforms presents new and often unanticipated risks, a new study has warned. Researchers from the University of Florida in the US said pediatricians should provide parents healthy rules of thumb about online disclosures related to their children.

Parents often create their children’s first digital footprints.

Previous research has shown that 92 per cent of two-yearolds in the US have an online presence, and about one-third make their first appearance on social media sites within their first 24 hours of life.

“The amount of information placed in the digital universe about our children

in just a few short years is staggering,” said Bahareh Keith, assistant professor from Florida.

“Parents often consider how to best protect children while the child is using the internet.

However, parents initially do not always consider how their own use of social media may affect their children’s well-being,” said Keith.

Social media offers many benefits to families, Keith said, including giving parents a voice as they struggle through difficult child-rearing experiences, building community and celebrating the joys of their lives.

“But when we share on social media, we must all consider how our online actions affects our children’s well-being, both

today and long into the future,” she said.

Pediatricians can advocate for increased awareness among parents to protect a child’s online identity, researchers said.

“We need to encourage responsible and thoughtful sharing and address a dearth of discussion on the topic that leaves even the most well-meaning parents with few resources to thoroughly appreciate the issue before pressing ‘share’ on their digital devices,” said Stacey Steinberg, law professor at Florida.

Steinberg cautions that information shared can be stolen or repeatedly reshared, unbeknownst to parents, potentially ending in the hands of paedophiles or identify thieves.

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1 - 7 Nov., 2016

From 40K stone pelters to just 100 now in Valley A STUDY conducted by Jammu and Kashmir Police on the current protests, which erupted after the killing of the militant commander Burhan Wani in July, says there is sharp deescalation in violent incidents and the Valley is moving towards normalcy. Though the study calls the current unrest a rural uprising, it says there were 2,250 incidents of protests, clashes, marches across Kashmir since July 8. Of the 2,250 incidents, 1,566 were reported from the rural areas

while 651 were reported from the towns. The study says: “In the first week of the turmoil each day 180 to 200 incidents of stone throwing were taking place across Kashmir and each day around 40,000 people were involved in these incidents of stone throwing.” However, in the last week of October only 10 incidents took place. From August people participated in pro-freedom and antiIndia marches and rallies. In August this year, five to 10 rallies were taken out each day where 50,000 people participated. In October, just one rally was taken out in a week and where only 100 to 200 people participated, says the

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internal study of the police.

Initially the protests erupted in south Kashmir. The four districts of south Kashmir witnessed 725 incidents of violence while three districts in north Kashmir saw 715 such incidents. In the central Kashmir, 810 incidents were reported, with Srinagar witnessing 650 incidents. Only 78 incidents were reported from Ganderbal district. “In Srinagar protests and clashes were witnessed from areas which could be described as the rural belt of Srinagar like Parimpora, Tengpora, Nowgam, Narbal, etc.,” the study says. Most of the violent incidents have taken place on Fridays with July 9 witnessing 201 incidents. But on October 17 only one such incident was reported. In the first week after July 8, 470

incidents were reported from across the Valley while in the last week of October the number has gone down to 31 incidents. The police say around 44 police and government building were burnt in the past 100 days, and 52 police and government buildings were damaged. In all these four months 23 schools were also burnt. Since July 8, 67 militancyrelated incidents took place in which six policemen and 35 army men were killed. During the uprising, 18 foreign militants were killed and 50 people joined the militancy. Police say around 75 people have been killed including two policemen in the past four months. However, human rights activists say over 90 civilians, including school-going children, were

killed in pellets and bullets fired by the security forces. The police have arrested over 6,000 youths involved in various cases including stone throwing, and over 450 political activists and separatist leaders have been booked under the Public Safety Act. Of the 6,000 youths, police study says 4,800 have been released on bail.

“Tempest is almost nearing an end. We are moving rapidly towards normalcy as there is sharp de-escalation in the violence. We expect peaceful days ahead,” says a senior police officer.

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Apple ramps up MacBook infused with touch controls SAN FRANCISCO Apple on Thursday unveiled new MacBook Pro laptops infused with touch control features that people have embraced on smartphones. MacBook Pro models shown off at a special event at Apple’s headquarters in Silicon Valley touted keyboards with “Touch Bar” controls where

function keys have traditionally been positioned. Touch Bar adapts to display controls most relevant to whatever application is being used, from email or typing text to video editing or music mixing, demonstrations showed. New MacBook Pro models with 13-inch and 15-inch screens also had “Touch ID” fingerprint reading sensors built into power buttons, meaning that people will be able to unlock machines or make online purchases using fingers to confirm their identity. Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller referred to new MacBook Pro models as the “gold standard” in notebook computers. A MacBook Pro with

a 13-inch screen and Touch Bar had a starting price of $1,799, while an upgraded model with the same screen size but a traditional keyboard was priced at $1,499. A 15-inch MacBook Pro with the touch control technology built in had a starting price of $2,399. Apple began taking orders on Thursday, with

touch-enhanced models promised to begin shipping within three weeks and the standard keyboard version available immediately. “Apple now has the most compelling and coherent lineup of laptops it’s had in several years,” said Jackdaw Research chief analyst Jan Dawson. “But, Apple’s laptops no longer enjoy the kind of big hardware advantage they’ve had in the past.” The event came a day after Microsoft unveiled a high-end computer along with an updated Windows operating system that showcases threedimensional content, touchscreen capabilities, and “mixed reality.” The US tech giant announced its first desktop

computer, called Surface Studio, a $3,000 high-end “all-in-one” device that aims at creative professionals, a segment dominated by Apple. Microsoft also announced an updated Surface Book - its high-end convertible tablet-computer which will sell for $2,400, adding improved graphics and computing power and with an estimated 16 hours of battery life.

Microsoft is aiming to keep users on Windows as many switch to new mobile devices powered by Apple or Google software. Apple is intent of guarding the loyalty of Mac users and winning new fans to its ecosystem. Shipments of Apple computers slipped to 4.42 million in a decline of slightly more than eight percent from the same period a year earlier, according to industry tracker IDC. Industry reports released this month showed that shipments of personal computers overall slid anew in the recently ended quarter as lifestyles continued to shift to smartphones and tablets.

Apple on Thursday also introduced a new TV application crafted to use iPhones, iPads and internet-video streaming boxes hubs for television viewing.

“Now, there is a unified TV experience; one place to discover and enjoy your favorite TV show and movies across all your devices,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at the event.

First-ever emojis to hang in NY Museum of Modern Art

NEW YORK Smiley faces and images of food and cats designed almost 20 years ago by a Japanese phone company and used in digital messages worldwide have now attained the status of art. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has been licensed to display the emojis in its permanent collection alongside works by Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, it said on Wednesday. It was not clear how the emojis would be displayed at MoMA, but the installation is due to open in early December.

Japanese national carrier Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, or NTT DOCOMO, developed the original set of 176 emojis and released them for cellphones and pagers in 1999. The 12 x 12 pixel images of hearts, arrows and hand gestures were the blueprint for the emojis widely used today, and they expanded the ways to communicate using the limited screen space available on

devices of the time.

Paola Antonelli, a senior curator at MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design, said part of the museum’s mission had always been to collect and display timeless art and design.

“Emojis as a concept go back in the centuries, to ideograms, hieroglyphics, and other graphic characters, enabling us to draw this beautiful arch that covers all of human history,” Antonelli said in a statement.

The original emojis, designed by developer Shigetaka Kurita, proved very popular in Japan, and the rest of the world soon caught on. By 2006, Alphabet Inc.’s Google was offering emojis for use in its Gmail service, and Apple added them in 2011 to its iOS messaging app. The emoji display comes six years after MoMA made headlines when it added the @ symbol - used in email addresses and on social media - to its collection, citing its “design power.”

to pay for projects beyond its budget.

Dorothy’s slippers, one of the film’s most iconic props, have been on near-constant display at the museum since they were anonymously donated in 1979.

The Kickstarter campaign is the Smithsonian’s second, after it raised $719,779 last year through crowdfunding to conserve Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit.

“Inviting the public to support this

Conservators say the shoes’ sequins are flaking, leaving them more of a washed-out auburn than the glittery ruby color for which they’re known.

MGM Studios’ prop department created the shoes by dying commercially manufactured lowheeled slippers red and attaching red sequined netting.

project gives our audiences the opportunity to have an active role in the preservation of the Ruby Slippers,” said museum Director John Gray.

“It provides a better understanding of what museums do to ensure that our national treasures are preserved and on display.”

Funding drive for ‘Oz’ slippers soars over the rainbow LA hospital pays $450k after ‘dumping’ homeless patient

LOS ANGELES A Los Angeles hospital will pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit

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alleging that it “dumped” a mentally ill homeless lady in the street, wearing only simple paper pajamas. Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer called the practice of patient dumping “unconscionable” and said on Twitter on Tuesday that the matter “will not be tolerated.” The city sued the Gardens Regional Hospital and Medical Center in April 2015, stating that its employees had driven the 38year-old woman suffering from schizophrenia and other mental disorders to a welcome center for the homeless

WASHINGTON It took just seven days for “Wizard of Oz” nostalgics to raise more than $300,000 in a crowdfunding drive to restore Dorothy’s iconic slippers to their ruby red glory. The US Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, which owns the slippers, said Monday that its Kickstarter campaign had gone “over the rainbow.” The sequined pumps were famously worn by Judy Garland as she skipped down the yellow brick road in the 1939 musical, one of Hollywood’s first color films.

Support for restoring them “spanned six continents and 41 countries,” the museum said in a statement.

Since the crowdfunding campaign runs for another 23 more days, the museum announced a “stretch goal” Monday of $85,000 to help conserve and display the movie’s Scarecrow costume (worn by actor Ray Bolger), in an exhibit set to open in 2018.

The Smithsonian Institution which oversees museums and research centers in and near Washington - receives federal funds to support its core operations, but that money does not cover repairing the shoes.

The institution often solicits corporate and private donations

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Women and men won’t reach economic equality until 2186 NEW YORK Efforts to close gender gaps in pay and workforce participation slowed so dramatically in the past year that men and women may not reach economic equality for another 170 years,

the World Economic Forum said on Tuesday.Statistics just a year ago predicted the economic gap between genders could close in 118 years, but progress has decelerated, stalled or reversed in nations around the world, the Swiss non-profit WEF said in its annual gender gap index.“These forecasts are not foregone conclusions. Instead, they reflect the current state of progress and serve as a call to action,” Saadia Zahidi, a member of the WEF executive committee, said in a statement.

Overall, Iceland and Finland ranked highest among 144

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nations measured on progress in equality in education, health and survival, economic opportunity and political empowerment.

Next were Norway and Sweden, followed by Rwanda, which has improved economic participation

and income equality and has the highest share of female parliamentarians in the world, the WEF said.At the bottom was Yemen, then Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran, with a wide array of progress in between, it said.

The gap in political empowerment, it said, was particularly pronounced in the United States, which may soon elect its first female president.

In most polls, Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Republican Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 8 election.The United States ranked 73rd in political empowerment, which measured the ratio of men to women in the highest levels of political decision-making, the WEF said.

It ranked 45th in the global list overall. Nations with significant political gender gaps stand to lose out, the WEF said in a 391page report accompanying the index.“In the political sphere, women’s engagement in public life has a positive impact on inequality across society at large,” it said. “In addition, there is a range of evidence to suggest

US Supreme Court to decide ‘battle of the toilets’

WASHINGTON The US Supreme Court said Friday that it will decide which bathrooms should be used by transgender people, a highly sensitive question with national political resonance. The case involves 17-year-old Gavin Grimm, who was born a female but identifies as a male. Grimm filed suit to be allowed to use the boys’ bathroom at his high school in Gloucester County, Virginia.

Arguments in the politically

charged question will be heard between now and late June, making it easily one of the highestprofile cases set for the court’s current term.The Obama administration has said public schools should grant access to toilets and locker rooms based on the gender with which a student identifies, not the birth gender.

Federal authorities, seeking to fight discrimination, have threatened school systems with a loss of federal funds if they fail to comply.

that women’s political leadership and wider economic participation are correlated.”

Globally, the political gender gap is slowly but steadily improving, it said.

On the other hand, the economic gap this past year reverted back to where it was in 2008. It measures how many men and women participate in the labor force, their earned incomes and their job advancement.

It stands at 59 percent, meaning women’s economic participation and opportunity is a little more than half of what men have, Zahidi said.At the current rate, and given that the gap widened last year, women and men will not be equal economically for another 170 years, the report said.Around the world, 54 percent of working-age women on average participate in the formal economy, compared with 81 percent of men, it said.

Women’s average annual earnings are roughly half those of men, estimated at $10,778, versus $19,873, it said.

“Ensuring the healthy development and appropriate use of half of the world’s total talent pool has a vast bearing on the growth, competitiveness and future readiness of economies and businesses worldwide,” the WEF said.The gap between men and women in terms of education - literacy and school enrolment is so small that they could be at equal levels within the next 10 years, it said.

Driverless truck from Uber’s Otto makes Colorado delivery

WASHINGTON A self-driving truck built by Uber’s unit Otto made a pioneering delivery of beer in Colorado last week, Otto announced Tuesday. The 18wheel semi loaded down with Budweiser made the 120 mile (200 kilometer) trip from Fort Collins through the center of crowded Denver to Colorado Springs using only its panoply of cameras, radar and sensors to read the road. The truck carried a professional driver, but he simply monitored the progress from the truck’s sleeper berth behind the driver’s seat. The trip was a fairly straight two-hour drive south on the I-25 highway, “exit-to-exit”, the company said in a statement, suggesting the initial and final stretches off the highway were handled by a driver. The test came just six weeks after Uber launched its demonstration self-driving car service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, gaining a jump on the many automakers that are now developing systems for cars

and trucks to pilot themselves.

“This shipment is the next step towards our vision for a safe and productive future across our highways,” Otto said. “With an Otto-equipped vehicle, truck drivers will have the opportunity to rest during long stretches of highway while the truck continues to drive and make money for them.” Uber took over Otto in August to combine forces on developing self-driving technology, and Otto co-founder Anthony Levandowski became head of the program for both companies. Otto said the initial test drive was the beginning of a partnership with AnheuserBusch, the largest US beer brewer. It launched a website, freight.uber.com, for truckers themselves to sign on to work with the company in the future.

“When you see a truck driving down the road with nobody in the front seat, you’ll know that it’s highly unlikely to get into a collision, drive aggressively, or waste a single drop of fuel,” Otto said.

speech several minutes later.

“I came to find out that she was recording the whole time and then sent to her friends afterward, ‘This is my dad lecturing us on the meaning of social media,’ And she took a picture of herself sort of looking bored,” said

texting because my phone function is disabled. I now have an iPhone, but it’s like the phone you give your two-year old... So my phone has no phone [calls], no camera, no music — all it has is the internet, and I can send emails,” he told a shocked

Obama.

Malia Obama apparently thought her little sister’s Snapchat burn was a “riot,” and First Lady Michelle Obama — who has her own Snapchat account — seemed to agree. Nevertheless, the President shared that he doesn’t possess the same enthusiasm for other forms of technology when Kimmel asked him if he would advise young people to be cautious in what they write in an email that could be deemed controversial.

“I think it’s interesting. Now, I have email,” Obama said. “I don’t have

Kimmel. “But my rule throughout my presidency has been that I assume someday, sometime, somebody will read this email so I don’t send any email... that at some point won’t be on the front page of newspapers.”

Obama also touched on the issue of last week’s botnet uprising and, although the White House does not yet know who did it, he expects the future president to meet the challenge of trying to “balance the benefits of cyber space” with the “protection of finances, privacy, and issues of security.”

Obama trolled on Snapchat by daughters WASHINGTON President Obama just got trolled on Snapchat by his youngest daughter, Sasha. And, though the leader of the free world may be popular for his orations across the nation, his daughters might be the exception to this rule. As Obama explained to Late Night host Jimmy Kimmel during an appearance on Tuesday, Sasha Obama is constantly blanking his “Dad talks” and then broadcasting them on Snapchat without his knowledge. During a dinner one night, Obama revealed to his daughter that he was fascinated by the fact that Snapchat was “becoming so popular” among her age group and asked her to take him through the ins and outs of the app. Sasha quickly taught him how to scroll through the home feed, change filters, make faces and send them out. “At the end of it, Michelle and I are sitting there and I said, ‘Isn’t this interesting.’ And I started talking to Michelle about the implications of social media and what all this means,” Obama told Kimmel, who aired a short clip of the president teasing his daughters’ obsession with texting and selfies at a high school event last week.

Little did he know his daughter would take him to task for his

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Low-cost air carriers spreading wings over the Atlantic

NEW YORK Low-cost air carriers are spreading their wings across the Atlantic, much to the chagrin of the major airlines now forced to

serve new destinations and cut fares.

Transatlantic flights operated by Norwegian Air, Iceland’s Wow air, Canada’s WestJet and Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc have multiplied in recent years as jet fuel has grown cheaper.

Frequently offering fares less than half that of major airlines, low-cost carriers have quickly attracted travelers.

Traditional players have seen their collective market share decline, dropping from 75 percent in the summer of 2014 to 72 percent this summer, according to the air travel data company OAG. While low-cost

carriers remain small players, larger airlines “are looking over their shoulders,” said George Hobica of airfarewatchdog.com.

“They could be a growing threat

as they add more seats,” he told AFP. “Currently, if you look at the percentage of seats they have compared to major airlines, it’s very small.”

Booked in advance, a round-trip flight between London and New York currently runs an average of $398 on the low-cost carriers, according to Hobica, compared to more than $600 with the major airlines. WestJet even has flights linking Canada and London at $149 (CAN$199).

Even with other costs added in, such charges for meals, luggage and headphones, passengers can get a good deal, according to Hobica.

Indian-origin baby dies after van backing out of driveway hits stroller

Aware of the threat, the larger companies have not wasted time, offering cheaper seats, more direct flights and new connections. British Airways recently began serving a route between London and San Jose, California.

Delta Air Lines, United and American, the three largest US companies, recently said they saw a drop in transatlantic traffic due to Britain’s vote to quit the eurozone, terrorist attacks in Europe and overcapacity.

Revenues could fall as a result.

Transatlantic flights have long been the preserve of major airlines, protected by the Open Skies agreements between the United States and Europe.

The agreements allowed these companies to form three partnerships - SkyTeam, Atlantic and OneWorld - and charge whatever rates they wanted.

The first attempts at low-cost travel in this area were failures.

Laker Airways, a 1970s forerunner, lasted less than 10 years after starting flights across the Atlantic.

The game changed with the emergence of a new, more fuelefficient generation of aircraft, such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and 737 MAX and Airbus’s Neo and A350. “It is not sustainable to operate a low-cost model using old aircraft,” Anders Lindstrom, communications director for Norwegian Air, said by email. The company, which posted third quarter earnings of $122 million, made its first transatlantic flight in 2013.

Ab ki baar Trump sarkar’: Donald reaches out to Hindu Americans with new ad

Washington It took Donald Trump 12 takes to do it, but he eventually got it right. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and the campaign had the punchline: “Ab ki baar Trump sarkar”.Trump’s outreach to the Indian American community continues, unprecedented from a major candidate in US presidential elections, following close on the heels of the New Jersey rally organised by the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC).The 29-second ad, which started with a Diwali greeting, mirrored the slogan “Ab ki baar Modi sarkar”, which was a key part of the BJP’s campaign in 2014.The connection is clear: this ad was shot for Trump campaign’s by the Indian American Advisory Council headed by businessman Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar, a keen supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.“Trump took 12 takes to do it,” Kumar told Hindustan Times. “But he did it without complaining, and very enthusiastically.”Punjab-born Kumar started the RHC in 2015 and has emerged the biggest Indian American donor to Trump’s campaign.

Trump also shot a promotional

ad for the New Jersey rally on October 15 at which he became the first major US presidential candidate to pitch himself directly to the Indian American community.A line from his speech at that rally was a key message in the new ad: “The Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House.”Trump went on to add: “We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism (which was played out against an image of the burning Taj Mahal Hotel during the 2008 Mumbai attacks).”

Other quotes from the rally referenced in the ad were “I look forward to working with Prime Minister Modi” (complete with an image of a smiling Modi) and “We love the Hindus, we love India”.

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Former Indian student pleads guilty in webcam spying case New York An 8-month-old Indian-origin baby was killed when the stroller he was in was hit by a car as it backed out of a driveway in Queens here.Navraj Raju was being pushed in the stroller by his 35-year-old mother, who hailed from India, when he was hit by a van driven by Armondo Rodriguez, 44.Rodriguez was backing the van out of a driveway on Friday morning when he hit the stroller, knocking Raju out of it. Witnesses said the van kept backing up, running the boy over with the back tire, according to a report in DNAinfo.Raju was rushed to the local hospital immediately but could not be saved. Rodriguez remained on the scene and was taken into custody. Police say he does not have a valid driver’s license.

Witnesses told PIX11 the mother and baby had just left a nearby deli when the mother stopped to fix the blanket on the stroller, stopping behind the van.

A witness, Ahmed Ali (26), described a chaotic scene,

saying the child’s mother shouted “Stop! Stop!” as the van backed up. Some passersby ran to pull Raju from under the van, Ali said.“One guy was touching the baby. Trying to see if it was crying. The baby wasn’t,” Ali said.Raju was remembered as joyful by his family. “He was a very happy baby,” his great aunt Rani Bedi said in the report.

“It’s too much. I feel very bad,” she said. Bedi added that Raju’s mother had struggled to raise him and his older brother, 3 in the US and had to send her elder son to live with his grandparents in India.

Neighbour Carlos Lopez said in the report that the stretch of sidewalk where the accident occurred was particularly dangerous for pedestrians because of the small parking lot and the busy gas station next door.

“This is very dangerous over here.

[With cars] backing out, you’ve got to be careful, especially during the day,” Lopez said.

“I always feared something would happen here,” he added.

New Brunswick A former Indian student of a US public research university, whose gay roommate killed himself in 2010 after being captured in a sexual act on webcam, has pleaded guilty to attempted invasion of privacy.

The 24-year-old Dharun Ravi’s plea on Thursday, came after an appeals court in September threw out a 15-count conviction against him in the 2010 death of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, USA Today reported.

New Jersey’s Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman sentenced Ravi to 30 days in jail - the time he has already spent in prison after he was convicted of briefly spying on Clementi and a man known only as M.B., for a few seconds on September 19, 2010, at the Rutgers University.

By pleading guilty to the thirddegree felony, Ravi accepted a deal with state prosecutors to drop all other charges after an appellate court threw out his conviction.Ravi is a citizen of India living legally in the US. The plea that includes no additional penalties, officially ended the case involving Ravi.

Clementi, an accomplished

violinist, leapt from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010, days after Ravi, his freshman roommate, live-streamed him in the sexual act with the other man.

Clementi, who left no explanation for his suicide. But shortly before his death, Clementi learned that Ravi had spied on him with a webcam and used social media to encourage others to view his

Clementi’s death had raised the issue of how young gay men are treated by the society. His parents, Joe and Jane Clementi, later founded the Tyler Clementi Foundation to combat online and offline bullying, harassment and humiliation.

In a statement issued after the hearing, Jane and Joe Clementi said they have learned a lot through the process of pleas, convictions, time served and appeals.Prosecutors did not charge Ravi in the death of

having sex with another man in the dorm room they shared.

In a Twitter message, Ravi said: “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam.

I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.” On Thursday in the court, Ravi kept his eyes on his cellphone.

When asked by the judge if he had any statement to make before he was sentenced, Ravi responded, “I have nothing to say,” NYT reported.

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Indian-Americans raised over $10 million for Clinton’s campaign Washington Indian-Americans are believed to have raised at least $10 million for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s poll campaign ahead of the US presidential election.

At least two of the Indian-

12, 2015.

Among those listed in the latest list of Hillblazers released by the Clinton Campaign are more than 30 Indian Americans, each of them raising a minimum of $100,000.

However, these Indian-

Americans philanthropist Frank Islam from Maryland and Shefali Razdan Duggal from California alone have helped raising a million dollars each for the presidential campaign of the former First Lady and the secretary of state, campaign insiders told PTI. Notably the Hillary Campaign does not give details of the major fundraisers and the amount of money raised by them.

It does have a group called ‘Hillblazers’, which has list of individuals who have contributed and/or raised $100,000 or more for Hillary for America, the Hillary Victory Fund, and/or the Hillary Action Fund since the launch of this historic campaign on April

Americans are reported to have raised much more than that, campaign insiders said.

Ajay and Vinita Bhutoria from San Francisco have reportedly contributed or raised more than $500,000 for the Hillary Campaign.

Among other Indian-American Hillblazers, as released by the Hillary Campaign, are Monica Arora and Raj Goyle from New York, Raj Fernando from Chicago, Mahinder Tak from Maryland, Seema R Hingorani from New York, Shekar Narshiman from Virginia, Kamil and Talat Hasan from California.

While there is no compilation of fundraising figures based on

Washington Making a rarest of the rare appearance in a video commercial, US President Barack Obama has endorsed “good friend” Indian-American Raja Krishnamoorthi for the US Congress from a Congressional

for everyone. Now Raja’s plans will help small businesses grow, raise wages, and help families pay for college. The polls are open now, so don’t waste a minute.

Vote Raja Krishnamoorthi for Congress,” Obama said.

The 30-second video shows one of the pictures of Obama at Krishnamoorthi’s home having Indian food at a dinner.

Busy campaigning in his district Krishnamoorthi told PTI in an interview that economy is the main issue in his district along with education, social security and healthcare.

This is Krishnamoorthi’s second attempt to enter the US House of Representative. He was defeated in the Democratic primary in 2012.

Obama has also recorded a phone call to reach out all the households in his Congressional district, he said.

Based on the feedback that he has been receiving from the ground, Krishnamoorthi said people are “horrified” with the prospect that Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, could be the president of the US. Krishnamoorthi said Trump is a dangerous and divisive candidate who has no place in the White House.

ethnicity, multiple sources said that they estimate the conservative amount of money raised by Indian-Americans for Clinton is at least $10 million.

It is also believed that IndianAmericans are only second highest fundraiser after the powerful and influential Israeli American community.

Among other Indian-Americans who figure in Hillblazers are Shradha Agarwal from Chicago, Ankit N Desai from Washington DC, Aashish and Dinyar Devitre from New York, Sanjay Govil from Maryland, Maneesh K Goyal from New York, Margaret and Shashikant Gupta from Virginia; Amrita and Ashok Mahbubani from Alabama, Deven J Parekh from New York, and Reshma M Saujani from New York.

Radhika Shah from Silicon Valley, Rishi Shah and Smita Shah from Chicago; Kabir and Noreen Shahani from Seattle, M Osman Siddique from Virginia, Amy Singh from Chicago, Smita Singh from San Francisco; Pradeep and Ranjana Sinha from Atlanta have also raised a minimum of $100,000 for the Hillary Campaign.

Indian call centres stole $300 million, says US Homeland Security

Washington The five Indian call centres, charged with defrauding thousands of Americans, stole more than USD 300 million from their victims, US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has said.Johnson on Thursday said an inter-agency effort resulted in the indictment of all five call centers and 56 people, including 31 from India, as well as the arrest of 20 others in the US, most of whom are Indians.

He said they were “engaged in defrauding thousands of victims, stealing more than a total of USD 300 million.” The scheme involved a network of call centers based in Ahmedabad, where associates of the ring would call victims in the US impersonating Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue

Services, or other government officials, demanding payment in order to clear fictitious arrest warrants, orders of deportation, or unpaid income tax, Johnson said.The five Ahmedabad-based call centers that made calls to people living in the US are Hglobal, Call Mantra, Worldwide Solution, Zoriion Communications and Sharma BPO Services. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Trade Commission announced the indictments, the result of a three-year investigation that was the largest single domestic law enforcement action connected with the impersonation scam.

Indian-origin ministers play key roles in Canada government

Obama appears in ad for IndianAmerican running for Congress

district in Chicago suburb.

“Hi, this is Barack Obama asking you to vote for my good friend Raja Krishnamoorthi for Congress,” Obama said in the short video that has started running on local television station of 8th Congressional District of Illinois.

In the video, President describes Krishnamoorthi as a “good friend” who helped him “develop ideas for building an economy that works for everyone” when he ran for the US Senate.

Having won the Democratic Party’s Congressional primary in Illinois, Krishnamoorthi, 42, now faces Peter DiCianni of the Republican party.

“When I ran for the US Senate, Raja helped me develop ideas for building an economy that works

Toronto Herb Dhaliwal became the first Indo-Canadian minister when he was given the revenue portfolio in 1997. Though retired from politics now, he pays special attention to the Justin Trudeau government and enjoys sharing this anecdote: “Somebody was telling me, when he walked into a NATO meeting, one person remarked they didn’t know India was part of NATO.”He was referring to Canada’s national defence minister Harjit Sajjan, one of four Indo-Canadians Trudeau appointed to his Cabinet last November. In the year since, it has become even more evident that those appointments went beyond symbolism. Sajjan is tasked not only with dealing with Canada’s role in the Iraq-Syria theatre but its expanded peacekeeping ambitions at the UN and in Africa.

Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and economic development, has emerged as the de facto liaison between Ottawa and New Delhi.

As Trudeau looks at investing $1 trillion in infrastructure, the importance of infrastructure and communities minister Amarjeet Sohi becomes clear. And small business and tourism minister Bardish Chagger was elevated to Leader of Government in the House of Commons this year.

Satwinder Bains, director of the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of Fraser Valley in British Columbia, said: “These were very thoughtful and very meaningful appointments and they were done with real confidence in their skill sets and not pandering to political communities.” Dhaliwal added: “They have performed well. It’s a credit to Trudeau to have

confidence in these people who had not been in the cabinet before.” He said this is a trend that will be emulated in future by the opposition Conservatives and New Democratic Party. “It generally sends a very good message. I think others will follow.”In fact, messaging is important. Last month, as racist anti-Sikh posters appeared at the University of Alberta, Sajjan tweeted: “Proud to be Canadian, proud of my service to Canada, proud of my turban.” That was retweeted by Trudeau. That “showed a sense of purpose”, Bains felt. “I felt very empowered by his tweet,” she said.As the presence of Indo-Canadians in the cabinet becomes normal, the process of mainstreaming is enhanced. “They’re sitting at the table, setting the agenda, writing up the policies. That’s huge,” Bains said.

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Wife of mentally ill man asks Pakistan to halt his execution ISLAMABAD The wife of a Pakistani man diagnosed with schizophrenia on Saturday appealed to the

country’s president to spare her husband’s life and suspend a death sentence that is set to be carried out in less than 72 hours, as international human rights groups stepped up their campaign against executions in Pakistan.

“I met with my husband Imdad Ali in jail two days ago and he doesn’t fully comprehend what is about to happen,” Safia Bano told The Associated Press. She said she has filed a revised petition in the Supreme Court, requesting suspension of the scheduled November 2 execution of the 50-year-old Ali. Bano said her lawyer has informed her that the court will hear her appeal on Monday.

Ali has been on death row since he was convicted in 2001 of

murdering a religious scholar in central Pakistan. Sketchy details are available about the circumstances in which the

murder took place. Bano at first said the slain man was an expert in “black magic” and she did not know what prompted Ali to kill him.

Her comments came after a human rights committee in Pakistan’s upper house of parliament urged the government to halt Ali’s execution, saying it will seek a pardon from President Mamnoon Hussain.

Ali was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008.

Pakistan’s highest court has already rejected Ali’s final appeal, claiming his disease does not qualify as a mental disorder.

According to Reprieve, an international human rights group, European Union politicians have also warned that Pakistan’s

preferential trade status with the EU could be in danger because of executions in the country. In a statement, it said EU trade delegates were due to visit the country on Monday ahead of Ali’s execution to assess whether Pakistan has honored its obligations to abide by human rights standards.

Maya Foa, a director at Reprieve, said Ali was so seriously ill that he didn’t even understand he faces the hangman’s noose.

Doubts have surfaced about the process of executions in Pakistan after a court overturned the death penalty of two brothers only to find out that the two men had already been executed while their appeal was still underway.

Pakistan has hanged over 400 convicts since a moratorium on executions was lifted in 2014.

Executions in Pakistan remained on hold between 2008 and 2014 due to pressure from international human rights groups. But it lifted the moratorium on executions following a Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar in December 2014 that killed 150 people, nearly all of them children.

Reprieve said only a small number of the executions since 2014 have been related to terrorism. It said Pakistan recently overtook Saudi Arabia to become the world’s third ranking executor, trailing only China and Iran.

Toxic liquor kills 11 of Christian community in Pakistan’s Punjab

ISLAMABAD At least 11 people from a minority Christian community in Pakistan’s central Punjab province died after drinking toxic liquor, police said Saturday.

Three other people who consumed the alcohol at a party on Friday night in Jhelum district, some 126 km (78 miles) east of Islamabad, are in hospital in critical condition, police said.

“The dead bodies of 11 victims have been handed over to their relatives after completing the postmortem, the condition of the

three others is still critical,” said Asif Nawaz, a senior police official in Jhelum. Nawaz said most of the victims were young and from same Christian neighbourhood. “They drank locally-made poisonous liquor while partying late Friday,” he added. Police are looking to arrest the suspected supplier of the poisoned alcohol, whose brother was reportedly among the dead. The public sale of alcohol is banned in conservative Pakistan but some people make moonshine at home.

Turkey parliament to consider death penalty for coup plotters: Erdogan

Afghan girl in Nat Geo photo to be released from arrest in Pak: Diplomat New Delhi The famous “Afghan girl” immortalised on a 1985 cover of National Geographic magazine, who was arrested by Pakistani authorities on charges of possessing forged identity papers, is likely to be released next week, the Afghan envoy in Islamabad said on Friday.

Omar Zakhilwal, who has been pursuing the case of 46-year-old Sharbat Gula with Pakistani officials, said a court in Peshawar will hear case on November 1, “in which we expect Sharbat Gula to be released”.

He said in a post on his official Facebook page that an Afghan legal team had taken up Sharbat Gula’s case with legal departments. He also took up her case with Pakistan’s foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz.

“The arrest in Peshawar of Sharbat Gula, one of the world’s most recognised and famous and Afghanistan’s most beloved image, has deeply saddened all Afghans without exception and has hurt their emotions,” Zakhilwal wrote in his post.

The action was a “complete contradiction” of the Pakistan government’s efforts to “win hearts and minds” in Afghanistan, he added.

“In light of the implications

Sharbat Gula’s arrest as well as release can have for Pak-Afghan people-to-people relations and also the legal weaknesses with the case on which she is charged, I requested Mr Sartaj Aziz that the Pakistan federal government issues a directive to

release Sharbat Gula immediately. Mr Sartaj Aziz gave me his assurances for which I am grateful,” he said.

Zakhilwal also dismissed the charges leveled against Sharbat Gula, saying the Pakistani identity card she had “was not fake and neither was it obtained fraudulently”. He added there were more than 500,000 Afghan refugees who had been issued Pakistani IDs and the interior ministry was “very well aware” of this.He pointed out a deadline set by Pakistan for Afghan refugees to return these ID cards was November 15, which was more than two weeks away.

If Sharbat Gula is released, the Afghan government will facilitate her family’s immediate repatriation and support her to resettle in her own country, Zakhilwal said. The envoy said Sharbat Gula’s husband and eldest daughter had died and she had sold her house just before her arrest.Sharbat Gula was arrested with two men, said to be her sons, in Peshawar on Wednesday. An official of Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) said she could face seven to 14 years in jail and a fine of up to $5,000 if convicted by court of fraud.

In 1984, National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry took the haunting image of Sharbat Gula, then aged about 12, at Nasir Bagh refugee camp on the edge of Peshawar. The photo, which became the most famous cover image in the magazine’s history, was likened to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.After a 17-year search, McCurry tracked Sharbat Gula in 2002 to a remote Afghan village, where she was married to a baker and the mother of three daughters. National Geographic also made a documentary about her life that dubbed her the “Mona Lisa of the Afghan war”.

Istanbul Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said his government would ask parliament to consider reintroducing the death penalty as a punishment for the plotters behind the July coup bid.

“Our government will take this (proposal on capital punishment) to parliament. I am convinced that parliament will approve it, and when it comes back to me, I will ratify it,” Erdogan said at an inauguration ceremony in Ankara.

“Soon, soon, don’t worry. It’s happening soon, God willing,” he said, as attending crowds chanted: “We want the death penalty!”

Capital punishment was abolished in Turkey in 2004 as the nation sought accession to the European Union.

After the failed bid to unseat Erdogan on July 15, the leader had threatened to bring the death penalty back for the coup plotters, stunning EU leaders.

Relations between Brussels and Ankara have been strained since Turkey responded to the coup by launching a relentless crackdown against alleged plotters in state institutions, amid calls from the EU to act

within the rule of law.

On Saturday, Erdogan scoffed at the West’s warnings on the death penalty.

“The West says this, the West says that. Excuse me, but what counts is not what the West says. What counts is what my people say,” he said, during a ceremony to inaugurate a highspeed train station in the Turkish capital.

More than 35,000 people have been arrested in the crackdown unleashed after the failed coup, according to official data.

Ankara accuses exiled Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the coup -- a claim he denies.

Erdogan’s government has also repeatedly called on the United States, where Gulen lives, to extradite him.

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Australian ex-Miss Universe says Donald Trump treated her with respect CANBERRA An Australian former Miss Universe said Saturday that Donald Trump had always

treated her with respect after a video emerged of an embarrassing exchange

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between the pair in Sydney in 2011.Jennifer Hawkins won the pageant in 2004, when it was owned by Trump. Trump, now the

Republican presidential nominee, accuses her in the video as he addresses 10,000 people at the National Achievers Congress in Sydney of initially refusing to introduce him. She blames a “miscommunication” with her management.

The video, released by Huffington Post, shows Hawkins raising her forearm between she and Trump as Trump kisses her on the cheek. He gets laughs from the crowd with a double entendre and she tells Trump that he has embarrassed her before leaving the stage.

Iraqis are world’s most generous to strangers: Global survey

LONDON Although torn by civil war, Iraq is the world’s most generous country towards strangers in need, according to a new global index of charitable giving. Eighty one percent of Iraqis reported helping someone they didn’t know in the previous month, in a global poll commissioned by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

For the first time since CAF began the poll in 2010, more than half of people in 140 countries surveyed said they had helped strangers - with many of the most generous found in countries hit hard by disaster and war.

Despite suffering instability and violence, Iraq has twice been ranked top in terms of helping strangers. Libya, with its own internal conflict, was second on the list this year and Somalia, embroiled in civil war for 25 years, fourth. “I think that the lesson here is societies are incredibly resilient and that large scale disasters tend to activate

a collective humanitarian response.” said Adam Pickering, international policy manager at CAF, which promotes charitable giving. In terms of donations to charity, Myanmar held the top position, with nine out of ten surveyed saying had they given during the previous month. The Southeast Asian country also retained its position for the third year at the top of the World Giving Index - a combined measure of respondents reporting help to strangers, donations of money and time spent volunteering.The report said the generous giving reflected the practice of “Sangha Dana”, where the country’s Theravada Buddhist majority donate to support those living a monastic lifestyle. The United States ranked second on the combined measure of generosity.

The World Giving Index is based on data form a global poll by market research firm Gallup of 140 countries.

Hawkins, who Trump has described as his favourite Miss Universe, is a successful businesswoman who has praised Trump as an inspiration.

“Donald and his family, I have to say, have always been respectful to me, and that’s all I can really say,” the 32-year-old said in Melbourne on Saturday as she was questioned by media in her role as an Australian department store ambassador.

“I’ve seen what’s been going on in the news, but really what is there for me to say other than that he respected me during that time in my life and I have a lot of respect for him because of that,” she added, referring to the 2004 pageant.

Hawkins has canceled media interviews since early October, when video emerged of Trump engaged in vulgar conversation about women before an “Access Hollywood” appearance in 2005.

Trump told the Sydney audience in September 2011 that he had prepared to denigrate Hawkins in his speech if she had not turned up to introduce him. He said Hawkins owed him for her success.

“Get even with people. If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard and I’ll give you an example: Jennifer Hawkins,” Trump said.

Hawkins’ management did not respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.

Australian couple jailed for abusing daughter for 15 years

Sydney An Australian husband and wife were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on Friday for sexually abusing, torturing and confining their daughter over 15 years. The District Court in Sydney was told that the father used various sharp tools to rape and torture the girl who was left tied up in a shed or in a plastic box for up to three days at a time on the family’s rural property in northern New South Wales.

The parents cannot be identified.

The 59-year-old father, was sentenced to 48 years in prison.

He will be eligible for parole after serving 36 years.

The mother, 51, was sentenced to 16 years in prison and must serve at least 11 years.

The father began abusing the girl when she was 5 years old. He had also held the girl’s head under water in a creek, wrapped her in barbed wire, forced her to eat hot chilies and threatened her with a chain saw.

The mother began teaching her

daughter how to sexually arouse her father from the age of 8.

The father was convicted of 73 offenses and his wife of 13 offenses in June. They denied all charges.

Judge Sarah Huggett described the crimes as “atrocious in the extreme.” She also described the father as “selfish, depraved and sadistic.”

The victim, now aged 24, first complained about her parents in 2011, while she was a patient in a psychiatric hospital ward.

Police arrested them in 2013.

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Indian-origin man gets 20-week jail term for sexually assaulting girl on plane London An Indian-origin businessman has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl during a flight to the UK and jailed for 20 weeks by a UK court.

Suman Das, from Qatar, had been arrested at Manchester Airport after the 18-year old girl claimed he touched her between her legs during a flight from Doha to Manchester as she was dozing in her seat in July.

The 46-year-old had denied the charges but was found guilty at Manchester Magistrates’ Court last week and was sentenced yesterday.

District Judge Sam Goozee said, “This is a sexual assault in circumstances that you took advantage of her. It was a brief but traumatic assault touching her incredibly intimately”.

A pre-sentence report stated community service was not an option for Das, who grew up in India and is now based in Qatar, as he is not a UK resident.

He will also have a post sentence supervision order for one year after his release, which means he must stay in the UK until that expires.

Das was also ordered to pay a 115-pound victim surcharge.

The victim had told the hearing, “He knew exactly what he was doing and he wasn’t sleeping. He

was looking at me, I saw he was looking at me. He must have been looking at me to see if I was awake.”“He did move very quickly once he saw that I was awake,” the victim said.

The court heard how Das’ wife, Sonia, was sitting next to him

“holiday of a lifetime” whilst the unnamed girl was returning to Britain after spending two months travelling in Thailand.

The girl alerted a member of cabin crew and went crying to the back of the plane.

In a statement, Das said later, “I

on the Qatar Airways when the incident took place, five hours into the flight. During the hearing Sonia, his wife of 23 years, said, “I have had no concern. Until today I have faith in my husband and still today I have total faith in my husband.” The accused initially claimed he must have touched her by accident while fidgeting in his seat and offered to apologise -- but he later said he could not have carried out an assault as he was asleep.

Das and his wife were visiting the UK for what was described as a

may have touched accidentally -- but I didn’t touch her intentionally.

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4 Indian students vie for London mayor’s award worth 10,000 pounds London Four Indian students are vying for the inaugural award set up by London mayor Sadiq Khan to find the most innovative non-EU students at London universities.

The winner will be provided

funding to take their ideas to the next level of development.

The ideas by the Indian students include developing a smart socket for amputees, an app that ends queuing in shops, and an intricate tea set made of papier mâché. The winner, to be announced on November 2, will receive prize money of £10,000.

The Mayor of London’s International Student Innovation Awards 2016 was devised by London & Partners, the mayor’s official promotional company, and is supported by stakeholders such as the British Council. The awards attracted hundreds of entries from 49 countries and 17 London universities.

Khan said: “The incredible range of talent on show in these awards celebrates the best of the

capital and clearly demonstrates that London is open to talent and ideas from across the globe. We need to do all we can to ensure that London remains the best and most welcoming destination for international students.”

Award organisers said four entries from Indian students had been shortlisted.

Mustafa Khanwala invented an app that eliminates the need to queue at the till in shops. The app allows in-store shoppers to pay with their smartphone by scanning the barcode. The technology ensures that alarms will immediately sound if a customer tries to leave without paying.

Malav Sanghavi created a programmable smart socket for amputees to customise their comfort level according to their activities. Users can select different types of grips, for example a low grip for sitting up, a medium grip for walking and high grip for running or playing sports. The interaction can be

I wouldn’t hire James Bond: MI6 chief

LONDON Despite his unrivalled record for single-handedly saving the world from disaster while seducing beautiful women along the way, James Bond would not get a job as a British spy, the head of external intelligence agency MI6 has said. Alex Younger said real spies had to cope with complex moral and physical challenges in the most forbidding environments on Earth, which would rule out the agent known as 007 because he lacked a strong ethical core. “In contrast to James Bond, MI6 officers are not for taking moral shortcuts,” Younger said in an interview published on Black History

Month, a website dedicated to Britain’s annual celebration of its black culture and heritage.

“It’s safe to say that James Bond wouldn’t get through our recruitment process,” said Younger. He added that while real MI6 spooks shared Bond’s qualities of patriotism, energy and tenacity, they needed additional values not displayed by the hero of “From Russia with Love”, “Goldfinger”, “Dr. No” or more recently “Skyfall” or “Spectre”. “An intelligence officer in the real MI6 has a high degree of emotional intelligence, values teamwork and always has respect for the law - unlike Mr Bond.”

Tens of thousands queue to pay respects to late Thai king

controlled by a user or a doctor from their smartphone.

Suresh Kumar developed a smartphone app to helps educate victims of strokes. The educational programme uses inexpensive every day objectives, such as sarees, to aid rehabilitation.

Surabhi Mittal designed a tea set made of papier mâché that is both a functional item and an attempt to reinstate handmade crafts in an era of massproduced consumer products.

The artist learned the papier mâché process in Kashmir, which is famous for its cottage industry. Aiming to revive the hand-making process and its importance in creative industries, the Papier Mâché Tea Set evokes a time when skills were passed down through generations.

Karan Bilimoria, president of the UK Council for International Student Affairs, said: “This initiative celebrates the very best of London – demonstrating the city is an inclusive place that welcomes business, craves innovation and is genuinely open to people from every part of the world. ”International students bring in £3 billion to London’s economy every year, and help to make London what it is: the home to the best in design, creative industries, technology, legal services, architecture, shopping, cuisine and entertainment.”

Bilimoria said two of the top ten best universities in the world are in London and it is “vital that we offer those students the very best opportunities to make an impact in their chosen field”.

BANGKOK Thousands of Thais streamed into the gates of Bangkok’s Grand Palace on Saturday as the public was granted its first chance to enter the throne hall where the body of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej is lying in state. Bhumibol, who died aged 88 two weeks ago, was adored by many of his subjects and seen as an anchor of stability in a kingdom rocked by political turmoil.His passing has thrust the country into a year of official mourning, with many Thais wearing only black and white since his death and TV channels devoting hours of airtime to footage from his 70-year reign.

For the past two weeks crowds have massed outside the Grand Palace, a compound of shimmering temples and pavilions in Bangkok’s old quarter, to pay tribute before a portrait of the late monarch. But Saturday was the first time the public has been allowed to enter the ornate throne hall where his body is lying in a coffin, out of sight, near a gilded urn. “I have been waiting here since 1:00 am,” said Saman Daoruang, an 84-year-old sitting in a massive queue that snaked around a

large field outside the palace.

Like many in the crowd, Saman camped out under a tent on the grassy parade grounds, having arrived in Bangkok by train from northern Nakhon Sawan province.“But I wasn’t able to sleep because I was so thrilled and proud to come here,” he told AFP, clutching several portraits of the monarch.An initial plan to limit visitors to 10,000 per day was dropped Saturday after crowds swelled to 100,000, according to a monitoring centre outside the palace.However Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a government spokesman, urged people “not to rush to come in the early days” as the throne hall would be open for “a long time”.

Thailand’s arch-royalist military government, which came to power in a 2014 coup, has encouraged mass displays of devotion for the late king and arranged a flurry of free bus, train and boat rides to move mourners to the capital.It has also stepped up its enforcement of lese majeste - a law that punishes criticism of the monarchy with up to 15 years in prison per infringement.All media based in Thailand must self-censor to avoid falling foul of the law.

Hailing “mighty Uncle Xi”, Chinese people have taken to social media using an old imperial term to welcome President Xi Jinping’s naming by the Communist Party as its “core”, despite party efforts to limit his cult of personality.

Following a four-day plenum, the party late on Thursday gave Xi the title “core”, putting him on par with past strongmen like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, though it also signalled his power would not be absolute by underscoring the importance of collective leadership. While a cult of personality had begun to form around Xi, he has moved to stop practices including adoring songs on the internet and references to him in state media as “Uncle Xi”, sources with ties to the leadership say. Indeed, the party’s lengthy communique after the plenum said “boasting” about leaders should be banned and all publicity about them based on fact. That message has seemingly been lost on

enthusiastic users of the Weibo social media service, where posts about Xi praising him as “mighty Uncle Xi” – echoing an expression used to greet an emperor – have appeared despite online censorship blocking searches for the expression. “With Uncle Xi as the party’s core, our Chinese dream will definitely be realised,” wrote one user, referring to a broad, vaguely defined policy of Xi’s to build a strong and prosperous country.

The Global Times tabloid, published by the party’s official

People’s Daily, said Xi’s role as the core “in fact has long been in the minds of the Chinese people”. “All Chinese know clearly that the Xi’s leadership has played a critical role in the changes in China in the past four years,” it said in an editorial, pointing to the success of his corruption fight and in tackling issues like terrorism.

“It was beyond anybody’s belief that corruption could be tamed and officialdom would progress toward less corruption a few years ago. But it is happening in China.”

Chinese borrow old imperial term to address President as ‘mighty Uncle Xi’

Issue - 691 (34)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Gay man demonised as human epicentre of AIDS, cleared of blame 30 years later London The man blamed for spreading HIV across North America in the 1980s, referred to as “Patient Zero”, may not actually have been the initial source of the deadly

virus on the continent, a new study suggests.

A combination of historical and genetic research shows that flight attendant Gaetan Dugas, a French-Canadian homosexual, who became the human epicentre of the US AIDS crisis of the 1980s was simply one of many thousands infected in the years before HIV was recognised.

Research by a historian from the University of Cambridge in the UK and the genetic testing of decades-old blood samples by a team of US scientists has demonstrated that Dugas was not the epidemic’s ‘Patient Zero’.

Work by Richard McKay, researcher from University of Cambridge shows how the very term ‘Patient Zero’ - still used today in press coverage of

outbreaks from Ebola to swine flu to describe the first known case - was created inadvertently in the earliest years of investigating AIDS. Before death, Dugas provided

investigators a significant amount of personal information to assist with studies into whether AIDS was caused by sexually transmitted agent.

McKay’s research suggests that this, combined with confusion between a letter and a number, contributed to the invention of Patient Zero and the global defamation of Dugas.

McKay’s work has added important contextual information to the latest study, led by Michael Worobey from the University of Arizona in the US, and which has compared a new analysis of Dugas’s blood with eight other archived serum samples dating back to the late 1970s.

“Gaetan Dugas is one of the most demonised patients in history, and one of a long line of

Paris concert hall unveils new facade 1 year after attacks

Paris The Bataclan concert hall has unveiled its new facade almost a year after being one of the targets of the deadly attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.

After months of renovation work, the name of the concert hall, in large, red letters, is back on top of the main entrance. The Bataclan will reopen on Nov. 16 with a performance by British singer Pete Doherty.

The Paris mayor’s office said commemoration ceremonies will take place on each site of the attacks Nov. 13 the anniversary date in the presence of victims’ families. Three Islamic extremists stormed into the Bataclan during a performance by the American group Eagles of Death Metal, turning the place into a bloodbath, while other attackers were targeting cafes, restaurants and a stadium.

individuals and groups vilified in the belief that they somehow felled epidemics with malicious intent,” said McKay. While his research traces this impulse to blame back several centuries, McKay located the immediate roots of the term “Patient Zero” in an early ‘cluster study’ of US AIDS patients.

Reports emerged in early 1982 of historical sexual links between several gay men with AIDS in Los Angeles and investigators from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) undertook a study to interview these men for the names of their sexual contacts.

They uncovered more links across Southern California, but one connection was named several times despite not residing in the state: Case 057, a widely travelled airline employee.

After 30 years, analysis of the HIV-1 genome taken from Dugas’s 1983 blood sample, contextualised through McKay’s historical research, shows that he was not even a base case for HIV strains at the time, and that a trail of error and hype led to his condemnation as the socalled Patient Zero. “In the 1970s, as now, the epidemic was driven by individuals going about their lives unaware they were contracting, and sometimes transmitting, a deadly infection,” said McKay. The study appears in the journal Nature.

41-yr-old Indian woman sentenced to death in Malaysia for drug trafficking

Kuala Lumpur A 41-year-old Indian woman, reportedly a beauty parlour owner in New Delhi, has been sentenced to death by the Malaysian high court for trafficking over 1.6 kg of drugs.

Sangeeta Sharma Brahmacharimayum was found guilty of trafficking in 1,637.1 gm of methamphetamine on October 7, 2013 at the Penang International Airport.

She was charged under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a mandatory death sentence on conviction.

Sangeeta, who appeared subdued when the decision was conveyed to her by a court interpreter in George Town in Penang State, broke down later, the Star Online reported.

Judicial commissioner Azmi Ariffin ruled that the prosecution had succeeded in proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt. He said that he found

Sangeeta, the former sister-inlaw of a senior police officer, had knowledge of the drug in the suitcase she was carrying and, hence, was not an “innocent carrier” as was raised in her defence, the report said.

Sangeeta was a beauty parlour owner in New Delhi, media reports said.

Azmi said that Sangeeta had testified in court that she came to Malaysia to start a business, buying and selling clothes from India to Malaysia, on the encouragement of a Nigerian man named Prince.

“Prince had instructed the accused to hand the suitcase containing clothes to his brother and sister-in-law who would meet her at the Penang International Airport upon arrival,” the Star Online report said.

Azmi noted that the accused had only known Prince for a year and had met with him several times in that period.

Greek influence? ‘Foreign forces’ spar over China’s Terracotta Warriors Xian, China Silent and enigmatic, China’s emblematic Terracotta Warriors are at the centre of a bitter row, with patriots and scholars dismissing as impossible theories they could have been inspired by Greek sculpture.

The 8,000-man clay army, crafted around 250 BC for the tomb of China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang, is a Unesco world heritage site, a major tourist draw and a symbol of ancient Chinese artistic and military sophistication in a country that proclaims itself a 5,000-year-old civilisation.Questioning their origins touches on deep sensitivities, as many take pride in China’s early discovery of world-changing inventions, from gunpowder to the compass and movable type.At the same time, its history with the West is fraught with a sense of humiliation over the colonies and concessions established in the 19th century.But theories put forward by art historian Lukas Nickel of the University of Vienna - and trumpeted in a recent documentary by National Geographic and the BBC - claim that Greek innovations in artistic naturalism, and perhaps even Greek artisans themselves, directly influenced the

sculptures.After the documentary aired earlier this month, netizens blasted the BBC and questioned how the Greeks could have impacted ancient China.“Couldn’t it be that Chinese people went first to Greece and influenced their sculpture?” one wrote.At the tomb tourists from across China crammed observation platforms to view the ranks of soldiers, jostling for space to snap selfies against their serious, stony facades as guides briskly narrated the story of their discovery by farmers in the 1970s.Several visitors were incredulous at theories of foreign influence. Dong Shenghua of Beijing said this was “impossible”, pointing to the Asian features of the statues and the sophistication of the

craftsmanship, which is “so good we can’t even make them today”.

“We have 5,000 years of history, how many does England have?” he asked.Ma Dongling, from Guangxi, said inspiration could not have come from abroad as China was “very innovative” at the time. “The emperor was the first in the world to do this.”

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REAL CHALLENGE Botham feels facing India will be a test of character for England

I AN BOTHAM believes England’s end of year tour programme will be judged on their upcoming five-Test tour of India, rather than a stunning loss to Bangladesh. England, 100 without loss at tea on Sunday in Dhaka, collapsed to 164 all out on a spin-friendly pitch to lose by 108 runs their first Test match defeat by Bangladesh. The result saw Bangladesh share the twomatch series 1-1 and raised fresh concerns over how England would cope in similar conditions in India, whose attack will feature offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin Test cricket’s number oneranked bowler. “It (a rapid collapse) can happen in that part of the world,” England great Botham said. “The wickets are tailored, they are designed to spin.

When you see spinners opening in Tests with the new ball, you get an idea of what’s coming. It’s good for them (Bangladesh). But what they’ve got to do is to start

winning outside of their own country. That’s the acid test and that’s what England have got to do now. At the end of the day, they’ll be judged not so much on what happens in Bangladesh, but they will be judged more on what happens in India.” While questions remain about England’s spinners, and their ability to play spin, Botham said all was far from lost for Alastair Cook’s side as they headed to India.

“England have got the bowlers who can take the pitch out of the equation with reverse

swing,” the former pace bowling all-rounder added. “If they go out there and they perform they can win.”

Stuart Broad, controversially rested in Dhaka, is set to lead England’s pace attack and make his 100th Test appearance when the India series opener in Rajkot starts on November 9. “I presented him with his cap when he first played in Colombo,” said Botham. “There was stuff about Broad ‘the enforcer’. He got a bit caught up in that. But he’s bowled his best spells when he bowls at the top of off stump,

Mishra likes to perform and inspire youngsters in the team

LEADING BY EXAMPLE FOR A senior player it’s important to walk the talk which is precisely what Amit Mishra wants to do so that the

juniors can follow his example.

Mishra, who bagged 18 wickets in the recently concluded five-match ODI series against New Zealand is happy that he can share his knowledge in international cricket with newcomers like Jayant Yadav and Axar Patel. “As a senior bowler, I had the opportunity to talk to the youngsters in the side and share my knowledge. You can only make them understand, when

you raise your game. If you lift your performance, they will get inspired and follow what you say,” Mishra told bcci.tv.

Mishra, who did not make it to the playing XI during the threeTest series, said that he was always aiming to get wickets rather than play a restrictive role. “In this series, I was always looking to take wickets. Yes, I did bowl according to the situation, but my objective was to go for wickets. If you look to contain, you are going to get hit,” Mishra said. Mishra termed this win as a crucial one as there were a lot of youngsters in the squad. “This is a very crucial series win for us. We had a young group and it is important that their morale stays high. The series was leveled and this was the final and the kind of performance that the boys shown; bowling them out in just 24 overs is very important. Now, when they play for India again, they will know what needs to be done and how they can get better.

This win has sent a positive message to the youngsters,” he said. Mishra had earlier also said that chief coach Anil Kumble has helped him understand his game better.

Australia at The Oval (when Broad took four for eight in 2009), Australia at Trent Bridge (eight for 15 in 2015).” As for the decision to rest Broad, Botham said: “Bowlers, rotate them. I was more in the Ben Stokes category. He won’t get rested and I wouldn’t have either.”

Durham all-rounder Stokes starred with both bat and ball in England’s 22-run win in the first Test against Bangladesh and Botham said: “I think he’s fantastic. I think he’s box office.

I love watching him play, I like his attitude, I like the aggression.

He’s the kind of cricketer you’ll cross the road to watch. It is all a learning curve for him now, but he learns quickly.” Botham, however, forecast changes to England’s faltering top-order. “I think someone like Jos Buttler might come into the equation.

Spinners, he can destroy them.

They (England) are not going to do anything drastic. Maybe Buttler comes in for someone like Gary Ballance, perhaps?” he said.

We have to win bigger global events: India hockey coach Oltmans Roelant Oltmans, chief coach of the Indian men’s hockey team, heaped praise on his boys and set his sights on bigger global titles after India reclaimed the Asian Champions Trophy by defeating archrivals Pakistan in an exciting final in Kuantan, Malaysia, on Sunday. India notched up a 3-2 victory in the title encounter against Pakistan, who were defending the title they had won twice in succession.

The title win presented a perfect Diwali gift to Indians celebrating the festival of light. Oltmans said he had seen 20 India-Pakistan matches as a coach and knew the excitement the subcontinental encounters generated. “For the Indian players, there was no option other than winning the title here. We went in as the favourites and were the target of other teams, who faced no such pressure,” said Oltmans. “I’m really

proud that the team showed its mental strength in the last quarter to clinch victory after we conceded two goals and allowed the opposition to come back into the contest.

“For India’s hockey fans this is a major title win, but we have to go on and win bigger global events,” Oltmans added. India’s most experienced player Sardar Singh, who was adjudged most outstanding player of the final for marshalling the midfield and playing a pivotal role in two Indian field goals, said the team played in this manner after

a long time. “This trophy is the hockey team’s Diwali gift to the nation,” said Sardar, the former Indian captain and one of the players designated as team leaders.

“We reclaimed the Asian Champions Trophy by repeating our victory over Pakistan in the Asian Games final two years ago,” said Sardar, adding that the pressure was on the Indians as they were now the continent’s champions and were tipped to claim the title.

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Issue 691 (36)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

IF EVER a little girl deserved to cry, it is 10- year-old Aysha. For three days without food or water, she had clung desperately to her mother as the terrifying battle to liberate Mosul from the clutches of the Islamic State raged outside their home.

When salvation finally arrived, in the form of burly Iraqi troops, she bravely fought back

10-year-old girl rescued from ISIS

tears and with fear, trauma and relief etched across her pretty face, desperately thanked her rescuers, offering even to kiss their feet. Their village of Kafer, 18 miles from Mosul, has been under the control of the Islamist fanatics since 2014 when the Army fled in the face of their ruthless advance. But last Thursday, following days of relentless air strikes and fierce fighting, liberation finally came. TV cameramen captured the moment when little Aysha, wearing a sparkly T-shirt and pink leggings, was rescued by an armed military police unit that has been fighting alongside the Iraqi Army as they fight to regain territory from the murderous ISIS. Barely able to contain her emotions, clutching biscuits and bottled water handed to her by the soldiers, she poured out as if fearful she would not survive to tell the full horror of her ordeal: “I’m so thankful to you.

I thought you would never come for us. We have had no food or water for three days

and it was just me and my mother, my father was taken and killed by the terrorists.

“The ISIS men have taken away so many children from my village and we don’t know what happened to them. Some of them died. The men made my mother give them her money and jewels and we have had nothing. Thank you, thank you. I would like to kiss your feet.” Instead the soldier beside her, in his armour-plated vest, affectionately leaned down to kiss the top of her head, then scooped her into his arms and carried her off to safety. She and her mother were taken to the nearby village of Qayyarah, already cleared of ISIS fighters, but elsewhere the deadly battle continued.

Meanwhile, Russia accused the US-led coalition of killing dozens of civilians in an air strike on a funeral procession in the town of Daquq, and claimed the strike had ‘all the signs of a war crime’. The ISIS hit back in the city of Kirkuk, killing more than a dozen members of the Iraqi security forces.

The fanatics also launched a rocket attack on an Iraqi convoy in a town near Mosul that had recently been retaken. Creative in their evil, ISIS also attacked a chemical factory at nearby Mishraq, releasing poisonous sulphur into the atmosphere.

There were reports that nine people had died and many others were taken to hospital. Today every assault unit in Iraq, including militias and also hosting British, Australian, American and French troops, has assembled at the huge Qayyarah military base. It is the forward operations site for the battle for Mosul and everything about it says this mission is not in doubt.

Tank commander Lieut Col Muntha Ibrahim Obed said, “This time we will not stop until ISIS is run out of our country. They are an intelligent enemy, but brutal. They don’t care if they die and that makes them very dangerous. To see suicide trucks driving at your troops, the men you want to protect, is a terrible thing.”

22 CIVILIANS KILLED FOR HELPING TROOPS Terrorists have electrocuted 22 civilians in central Mosul even as they sent armoured suicide truck bombs towards Iraqi forces trying to liberate the city. Iraqi government and Kurdish Peshmerga troops are facing stiff resistance as they advance on the city. And as they move closer towards the centre of Mosul, many fear that the terror group will start using more brutal tactics to fend off any attack. Iraqi media reported that 22 civilians were electrocuted by ISIS in the centre of Mosul. According to Al Sumaria News, the militants had been keeping the civilians inside a prison for almost four months. They were then executed after they were accused of collaborating with government and Peshmerga troops.

Ten days into the battle of Mosul, special forces are still four miles to the east of the city and are constantly having to dodge ISIS firing mortars and armoured suicide truck bombs trundling across the arid plains

Ukraine’s Mata Hari seduced Putin’s men She ‘confesses to sleeping with key targets’ to abduct them

A WOMAN nicknamed Ukraine’s Mata Hari has been detained by pro-Vladimir Putin rebels who claim she was sent to seduce and abduct their servicemen. Liliya Kots, 28, is suspected of being a member of staunchly nationalist Ukrainian organisations and to be working undercover on

behalf of Kiev’s SBU intelligence service. She was seized in Donetsk after befriending a ‘serviceman’ belonging to the forces of the breakaway region’s pro-Moscow regime. In an alleged confession she was quoted as saying she had been trained in ‘how to deal with men.’

Her training as a ‘swallow’ a

KGB-style female agent schooled in seduction allegedly included having sex with key targets from Putin’s servicemen.

“We had to get as close to the indicated people as possibleand find out as much as we could including having sexual intercourse,” Liliya said. “We were recording conversation on video and voice recorder,” she added.

She was also trained to shoot, plant explosives, and read maps, it is claimed. It is not known under what pressure she made her alleged ‘confession’ but she said her findings were passed to the SBU via controllers who were senior members of Right Sector, a Ukrainian nationalist grouping.

In Donetsk, she was accused of befriending a ‘serviceman’ to organise his abduction using her ‘spying and female skills.’ She planned to drug him, and hand him over to her conspirators who would smuggle him to Kievcontrolled territory, it was claimed.

Pictures appear to show her in paramilitary uniform with a Ukrainian nationalist group. She also uses the name Lilya Kashtan.

Right Sector spokesman Artem Skoropadskyy said Liliya Kots, who was detained in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, was neither an

activist nor a volunteer of their organisation. The commander of the volunteer battalion OUN [Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists], Mykola Kokhanivskyy, said: “I saw her once near the battalion’s boot camp. However, she never joined our ranks.”

Issue 691 (37)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Health Things you can do to prevent a stroke!

New Delhi Stroke is a serious medical emergency that occurs when blood flow to an area of brain is cut off, depriving brain cells of oxygen and nutrients.

Stroke, which is a leading cause of disability, is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, Worldwide, it is the second leading cause of death As per CDC, globally, stroke takes the lives of more than 6.5 million people each year, and permanently disables another 5 million. Around the world, stroke kills more people each year than do HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Many stroke survivors are often left with serious physical and mental disabilities, including memory loss, difficulty with movement, and trouble with emotions.

But the good thing is that stroke can be treated and prevented. Responding quickly can help in the recovery process, prevent

disability or even death.

Identifying or knowing your risk factors and adopting a healthy lifestyle can help reduce your chances or prevent a stroke.

Here are a few things you can do to prevent a stroke: • Lower blood pressure High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke. If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, take steps to keep your blood pressure under control.

• Avoid tobacco – Smoking increases a person’s risk of stroke by raising blood

Health benefits of being flexible!

New Delhi Do you know that being flexible can give health

body, it is important to be flexible.One should do stretching every day to improve flexibility.

Here are some benefits of being flexible: Prevents heart disease Flexibility helps to reduce arterial stiffness that can lead to heart disease and stroke. benefits to our body? Well, Improves your posture many people tend to Stretching exercises and ignore that flexible is an yoga improves your aspect of good health. As posture and helps balance tight muscles can create the tension placed on the problems throughout your joints.

Prevents lower back pain If your suffering from lower back pain, then try stretching out as flexibility helps treat and prevent the pain.

Improved circulation Flexibility also improves circulation DRUNK & DRIVING? and helps blood move CALL VICKY SINGH to the muscles and 416-992-5489 joints.

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pressure. It also makes blood more likely to clot which leads to a stroke.

• Lose weight – Being overweight can increase your risk of high blood pressure (hypertension), cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which are all contributors to stroke.

• Eat healthy foods – Eat a diet consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, etc. Limit saturated fat and trans fat.

• Get moving – Regular exercise lowers your blood pressure, increases your level of HDL (good

cholesterol), and improve the overall health of your blood vessels and heart, thereby cutting your stroke risk.

• Drink in moderation – Heavy alcohol consumption can cause high blood pressure and trigger irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation), both of which can increase your risk of a stroke.

• Treat underlying conditions – If you have had a condition that increases your risk of stroke such as, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation (Afib), transient ischaemic attack (TIA), diabetes, etc, ensure that you get treated these medical risk factors to prevent a stroke.

World Stroke Day is observed on October 29 to raise awareness about stroke, highlight the serious nature and high rates of this condition as well as ensure better care and support for survivors.

Regular dental visits can help keep pneumonia at bay

New Delhi Paying a visit to your dentist at least twice a year is not only good for your gums and teeth but it can also decrease the risk of pneumonia to a certain extent. Regular dental check-ups can help reduce bacteria in the mouth thereby preventing the risk of getting exposed to pneumonia. Based on an analysis of a database of more than 26,000 people, the research found that people who never get dental checkups had an 86 per cent greater risk

of pneumonia than to those who visit the dentist twice a year.

“There is a welldocumented connection between oral health and pneumonia, and dental visits are important in maintaining good oral health,” said lead author of the study, Michelle Doll from Virginia Commonwealth University in the US. “We can never rid the mouth of bacteria altogether, but good oral hygiene can limit the quantities of bacteria present,” said Doll.

Ayurvedic cure of diabetes – Top five home remedies that really work!

New Delhi Diabetes is a serious disease that can’t be cured, but it can be treated can controlled. There are three main types of diabetes mellitus: Type 1 diabetes - A chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. The cause of type 1 diabetes is not known and it is not preventable with current knowledge.

Type 2 diabetes – a more common type in which your body does not make or use insulin well. It is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity.

Gestational diabetes – It is a form of high blood sugar that occurs pregnancy, but may resolve after the baby is born.

Besides treatment and medication, diabetes can be effectively managed by making simple lifestyle changes, including physical activity, eating a healthy diet (avoiding sugar and saturated fats intake) maintaining a healthy weight, managing stress and avoiding tobacco use.

Here are some natural home remedies to keep your blood sugar

controlled and lead a healthy life with diabetes: Bitter gourds This popular vegetable contains at least three active substances with anti-diabetic properties, including charantin, which reduces high blood

glucose levels in diabetes.

Tip: Take 4-5 bitter gourds, remove the skin and seeds and crush them to make a paste. Extract the juice using a sieve and drink it on an empty stomach for better results.

Holy Basil (Tulsi) leaves The leaves of holy basil are packed with antioxidants and essential oils which help in mitigating stress and conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Tip: Take few leaves of tulsi and

consume them whole on an empty stomach to lower blood sugar levels.

Cinnamon Cinnamon, also known as dalchini in Hindi, is one of the most delicious and healthiest spices on the planet.

It has been found to lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Tip: Try to include about 1 gram of cinnamon into your daily diet for about a month to help lower blood sugar levels..

Fenugreek seeds Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds) are the rich sources minerals, iron, vitamins, natural soluble fibres, potassium, sodium, Saponin, amino acid, phytochemicals, etc. The seeds of fenugreek have been found to be helpful in controlling type 2 diabetes.

Fenugreek is also used for digestive problems such as loss of appetite, upset stomach, constipation, inflammation of the stomach (gastritis).

Tip: Take 4-5 tablespoons of fenugreek seeds and soak them in water overnight. Crush them in the morning, strain the mixture and collect the water.

Drink it everyday for 2 months.

Issue 691 (38)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Birth control pills may increase the risk of stroke: Experts New Delhi Apart from obesity, birth control pills and additional factors such as smoking, high blood pressure or diabetes may put women at increased risk for the most common type of stroke, health experts suggest.

Oral contraceptives increase the risk of ischemic strokes, caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel in the brain.

“Women who take birth control pills are slightly at higher risk of stroke as a result of the high estradiol content in these contraceptive pills, which also increases the risk of blood clots,” Vipul Gupta, Additional Director, Neurointervention Surgery, and Co-Director, Stroke Unit, Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon, told IANS. “The risk also increases for a woman during pregnancy as the increased blood pressure puts stress on the heart.

Also migraine can cause chances of stroke three times up in women,” Satnam Singh Chhabra, Head Neuro and Spine Surgeon, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, added.

Women who smoke are also advised against taking birth control pills as

this may increase the risk of a stroke.

Stroke is a serious medical emergency causing premature death and disability. It occurs when blood flow to an area of brain is cut off; brain cells are deprived of oxygen and begin to die.

“A stroke occurs when blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly cut off. The brain cells in the immediate area begin to die because they stop getting the oxygen and nutrients they need to function,” Gupta explained.

Apart from the ischemic stroke, there is the hemorrhagic stroke caused by a blood vessel that bursts and bleeds into the brain.

“Rheumatic heart disease and atrial fibrillation in younger females is emerging as major cause of strokes,” M.G. Pillai, Head of the Cardiology

Department at Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital, Mumbai, told IANS. When brain cells die during a stroke, the abilities controlled by that area of the brain such as memory and muscle control are lost.

The treatment for stroke may also depend on its type. An ischemic stroke in many cases can be reversed through medicines but only if it is detected within three hours of its occurrence.

Treating a hemorrhagic stroke involves finding the cause of bleeding in the brain and controlling it.

“Depending on the damage and overall health of a patient, one can regain the lost abilities to some extent through rehabilitation and medicines,” Chhabra explained.

Unlike ischemic strokes, hemorrhagic strokes aren’t treated with

antiplatelet medicines and blood thinners because these medicines can worsen the bleeding.

Advanced scans, such as CT angiography, perfusion imaging and MRI are also done to evaluate the site of blockage and quantify the extent of the brain that can be salvaged.

Gains can happen quickly or over the time depending on various factors like the area of the affected part, how much is affected and the patient’s motivation.

The most rapid recovery usually occurs during the first three to four months of a stroke.

“The cure for a stroke depends on the amount of area damaged. If the damage is fatal then it may take months to heal and if the damage is normal, the patient may recover within a week or two,” Kishan Raj, Consultant Neurologist at IBS Hospital, Faridabad, explained. According to experts, 80 per cent of all strokes are preventable.

This starts with managing key risk factors, including high blood pressure, smoking, atrial fibrillation and physical inactivity.

Strokes are life-changing events that can affect a person both temporarily or permanently.

Vitamin E can modify the risk of pneumonia older men

London A new study has revealed that Vitamin E can help modify pneumonia risk in older men. Taking vitamin E supplements for boosting immunity can have different effects on modifying the risk of pneumonia in older men, depending on lifestyle choices The vitamin E increases pneumonia risk by 68 per cent among old men who had the highest exposure to smoking and who did not exercise.

Conversely, vitamin E actually decreased pneumonia risk by 69 per cent among participants who had the least exposure to smoking and who exercised during their leisure time.

“The effect of vitamin E on health outcomes may depend on various characteristics of people and their lifestyle,” said lead author Harri Hemila

from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Therefore, a single universal estimate of the vitamin E effect might be substantially misleading for some population groups, Hemila said.

For the study, the team studied the effect of vitamin E on the risk of pneumonia on men aged 50 to 69 years old in Finland between 1985 and 1993. There were 898 cases of pneumonia among 29,133 participants of the study.

The author claims that these findings refute there being a uniform effect of vitamin E supplementation on the risk of pneumonia.

Given the current limited understanding about who might benefit, vitamin E should not be suggested for the general population for improving the immune system, Hemila recommended.

Want to live a very long life?

Vitamin D for pregnant women should be tailor-made Follow these five basic rules for

London Pregnant women respond differently to vitamin D supplementation depending on their individual attributes, thus the supplement levels should be tailored according to individual risk factors, suggests a research.

Vitamin D is a hormone that helps the body absorb calcium. It plays a crucial role in bone and muscle health.

The skin naturally produces vitamin D after exposure to sunlight but people also obtain smaller amounts of the vitamin through foods, such as milk fortified with vitamin D. The findings showed that women who delivered in the summer season, who gained less weight during pregnancy and who had higher vitamin D levels early in pregnancy tended to have higher levels of vitamin D in the blood than their counterparts.

On the other hand, vitamin D supplements were found less effective at raising the levels of the vitamin in pregnant women who delivered their babies in the winter season, have low levels of vitamin D early in pregnancy or gain more weight during pregnancy.

Women who consistently took the supplement also had higher levels of vitamin D than participants who did not, the researchers said.

“Our study findings suggest that in order

to optimise vitamin D concentrations through pregnancy, the supplemental dose given may need to be tailored to a woman’s individual circumstances, such as the anticipated season of delivery,” said Nicholas Harvey, Professor at University of Southampton in Britain.

Evidence suggests vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy can harm maternal health, foetal development and the child’s long-term skeletal health.

“It is important for pregnant women to have sufficient levels of vitamin D for the health of their baby,” Harvey added.

For the study, the team recruited and randomised more than 800 pregnant women to take either 1,000 units (25 micrograms) of vitamin D every day or a matched placebo capsule from 14 week’s gestation until delivery of the baby.

a healthier, happier lifestyle!

New Delhi All of us want to live a long, healthy life.

But do we really know what are the basic rules that help a person lead a healthy and peaceful life? Or do we follow the instructions and act like it?

Making just a few changes in your lifestyle can help you live longer.

Following are five simple common-sense rules, if followed will keep you fit and add years to your life: Healthy diet Eat a healthy diet consisting of plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes while limiting highly processed foods.

Exercise Exercise regularly as it is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It is good for a lot more than just losing weight or building muscles.

Keep hygiene Good hygiene isn’t just about eating healthy and exercise. Maintaining good personal hygiene is the first step to good health and is vital for many reasons - personal, social, psychological, etc.

Drink plenty of water Drink lots of water considered as the world’s best beauty elixir. In fact, the body is composed of between 55 and 78% water which has no calories, fat,

carbohydrates or sugar in it. The amount of water you take plays an important role in maintaining a healthy body. Water can help increase your life span by reducing fatigue, lubricating joints and helping your kidneys and liver detox efficiently.

Get enough sleep Getting an adequate sleep is considered a person’s secret to longevity. Adequate sleep plays a key role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Over time, sleep deprivation may lead to an array of serious health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even early mortality. Research claims lack of sleep could double the signs of skin ageing, including fine lines.

Issue 691 (39)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

BROWN RICE KHEER RECIPE ‘VEGAN RICE PUDDING’

Spicy Crispy kung pao cauliflower

INGREDIENTS For the Baked Crispy Cauliflower ¼ cup + 1 tbsp corn starch or other starch ¼ cup + 2 tbsp bread crumbs (use gluten-free crumbs to make gf) ¼ cup + 1 tbsp or more water ½ tsp cayenne ( use a S! tsp for less heat) 2 tsp soy sauce ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp roasted sesame oil 1 tsp oil 1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into florets For the Kung Pao sauce 1 tsp oil 8 to 10 dried red chilies (chinese red chilies, or arbol or cayenne, or use california red for less heat) ½ tsp coarsely crushed sichuan peppercorns (or use a mix of coarsely crushed black pepper and red pepper flakes) 2 to 3 tbsp chopped cashews or peanuts 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced 1 inch ginger minced 2 tbsp scallions, chopped Sauce mix 2.5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce/tamari (use certified gluten-free sauce to make gf)

1.5 to 2 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tsp chinese rice wine (optional) 1 tbsp sugar ¼ cup + 2 tbsp water (use ½ cup for more sauce) 1 tsp cornstarch INSTRUCTIONS Chop up the cauliflower and keep aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Mix the cornstarch breadcrumbs, and the rest of the ingredients to make a batter. Let the batter sit for 10 seconds to thicken if it isn’t thick. The cornstarch continues to thicken the batter, so as soon as it is a good not too watery consistency, start dipping the cauliflower in the batter, tap to drop excess and place on parchment lined baking sheet. If the batter thickens too much while working, add a tsp or more water and mix in and continue.

Bake for 30 minutes or longer until the florets are cooked through. Check with a toothpick/ knife Meanwhile make the sauce. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the red chilies and peppercorns and cook until the red chilies are fragrant, but not overly brown, or someone starts sneezing. (For more heat, break some of the chilies into half and add to the skillet.)

Add the nuts and mix for a few seconds. Add the ginger, garlic, reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook until the garlic is golden.

4 to 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add in the scallions, and 2 to 3 tbsp finely chopped green peppers or other veggies if using and mix in. Increase heat to medium. Cook for a minute.

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and add to the skillet. Continue to cook until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens slightly. 2 mins.

Carefully taste and adjust salt, sweet and spice.

Arrange the baked cauliflower in a shallow bowl in one layer. When ready to serve, Drizzle the sauce over each floret. Serve.

To store, store the baked cauliflower and sauce separately. Heat the sauce, pour over the florets. To serve with rice/cooked grains, double the sauce mix and bring to a boil to thicken, toss in the cauliflower and serve immediately over rice.

INGREDIENTS ½ cup brown basmati rice (soaked for 15 mins, then drained) 2.5 to 3 cups almond milk 3 to 4 tbsp raw cashews s e e d s o f 2 pods of cardamom ·a good pinch of salt ¼ cup raw sugar 2 to 3 tbsp chopped raw nuts like cashews, pistachios 2 to 3 tbsp currants or raisins INSTRUCTIONS Combime brown rice with 1.5 cups water and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. If using white basmati rice, cook for 11 minutes or until al dente.

Blend almond milk with the cashews until smooth. Add a splash of

water to the simmering rice to bring the temperature down. Then add the blended milk to the rice. Add sugar, salt, cardamom pod and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

In another skillet, toast the nuts in ½ tsp oil or on a dry skillet until golden.

Add the currants and cook for a minute. Add the nuts and currants to the simmering kheer.

Taste and adjust sweet if needed. Continue to simmer until the brown rice is tender to preference and thickened to preference. 10 to 20 mins Serve warm or chilled.

Garnish with almond slivers or pistachio slivers.

Mushroom Matar Masala INGREDIENTS ½ large onion, chopped 5 cloves garlic 1 inch ginger 1 green chile (remove seeds to reduce heat if needed) 1 tsp oil 2 large tomatoes ¼ cup raw cashews (soaked for 15 mins if needed), use S! cup for creamier sauce ½ to 1 tsp garam masala ½ tsp paprika 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) 6 to 8 oz sliced white mushrooms ¾ cup or more peas ½ tsp or more salt ¼ tsp ore more sugar 1 cup chopped spinach (optional)

cayenne to preference cilantro for garnish INSTRUCTIONS Blend onion, garlic, ginger, chile with a few tbsp of water to a puree in a blender.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the above puree. Cook for 5 to 7 mins or until the onion smell is not raw. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, blend tomatoes and cashews in the same blender until smooth. Blend for two 1 min cycles so the cashews are blended in. Add the pureed tomato puree, garam masala, paprika, and fenugreek to the skillet. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes.Stir occasionally.

Add mushrooms, peas, other veggies, ½ cup or more water, salt, sugar. I added a ½ cup cooked chickpeas as well as seen in the pictures. Mix well.

Cover and cook for 10 mins or till the mushrooms are cooked to preference.

Fold in spinach if using, taste adjust salt and heat. I usually add some cayenne.

Garnish with cilantro and serve over rice, cooked grains or with flatbread.

Issue 691 (40)

1 - 7 Nov., 2016

Briton who killed Indonesian women ‘a sadist trying to cover fragile shell’?

Hong Kong British investment banker Rurik Jutting was a narcissistic sexual sadist trying to cover a “fragile” shell after schoolboy abuse, according to his defence case against charges of murdering two Indonesian women in his Hong Kong apartment.

Opening Jutting’s defence on Monday, lawyer Tim Owen called on Dr Richard Latham, a consulting forensic psychiatrist with Britain’s National Health Service who has worked on between 50 to 75 similar cases.

Latham told the Hong Kong court that Jutting suffered from recognised disorders from cocaine and alcohol abuse on top of his other personality disorders of sexual sadism and narcissism. He stated that

at the time of the killings Jutting’s ability to control his behaviour was “substantially impaired”.

“There is this very fragile sense of self esteem underneath it all,” Latham told the court, adding Jutting’s narcissistic tendencies of being boastful was a means to cover up.

Owen said Jutting had been a victim of sexual assault during his teenager years at Winchester College, one of Britain’s oldest and most prestigious public schools, when he was forced to perform oral sex on another boy. The defense also detailed Jutting’s father attempted suicide when Jutting was 16.

Jutting, a Cambridge University graduate who previously worked at Bank of America Corp in Hong Kong, has been accused of

murdering Sumarti Ningsih, 23, and Seneng Mujiasih 26, two years ago The women’s bodies were found in his luxury highrise Hong Kong apartment. Ningsih’s mutilated body was found in a suitcase on the balcony, Mujiasih’s was found inside the apartment with wounds to her neck and buttocks, the prosecutor told the

Nigeria officials gifted food, used authority to have sex with Boko Haram victims

Lagos Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Nigerian officials of sexually exploiting women and girls living in camps for victims of Boko Haram in the restive northeast.

HRW said it had in July documented 43 cases of women and girls in seven internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps in Maiduguri, the epicentre of the seven-year Islamist insurgency, who had been abused by camp leaders, vigilante groups, policemen, and soldiers.

“It is bad enough that these women and girls are not getting much-needed support for the horrific

trauma they suffered at the hands of Boko Haram,” said Mausi Segun, senior Nigeria researcher at HRW. “It is disgraceful and outrageous that people who should protect these women and girls are attacking and abusing them,” he added.

Government officials were not immediately available for comment on the allegations. Four of the victims told HRW they were drugged and raped, while 37 were coerced into sex through false marriage promises and material and financial assistance. “Many of those coerced into sex said they were abandoned if they became pregnant.

They and their children have suffered discrimination, abuse, and stigmatisation from other

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camp residents,” the global rights body said.

HRW spoke to one 17year-old girl who was raped and made pregnant by a policeman.

“One day he demanded to have sex with me,” she said. “I refused but he forced me. It happened just that one time, but soon I realised I was pregnant.

“When I informed him about my condition, he threatened to shoot and kill me if I told anyone else. So I was too afraid to report him.”

HRW said irregular supplies of food, clothing, medicine, and other essentials in camps were making the women vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

“In some cases, men used their positions of authority and gifts of desperately needed food or other items to have sex with women,” it said. Boko Haram has devastated northeast Nigeria in its quest to create an Islamist state, killing over 20,000 people and displacing 2.6 million from their homes. Since taking up arms against the Nigerian government in 2009, the jihadists have disrupted trade routes and farms.

court.

Jutting has pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of “diminished responsibility”, but guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The trial has attracted international scrutiny since it began last week with media flying in from Britain to cover the case and the court room has been perpetually full.

Jutting captured hours of footage on his iPhone of him torturing Ningsih. He also filmed rambling monologues where he discussed the murders, binged on cocaine and explained his violent sexual fantasies.

“The thing I never had before in a case is the video recordings he made himself because they give you a

direct view of what he was like around the time of these two killings,” Latham told the court.

Latham said that in 2011 Jutting developed a strong preference for sexual violence, torture, rape and slavery. He moved from using pornography to “acting out these things with people in a consensual way and then he gradually testing out things that were not really consensual.”

In 2013 Jutting started booking more submissive escorts and would opt not to use condoms, he said.